Welcome Back to Beacon Hills
by Jaiime95
Summary: There's a lot of history between the Hales and the Venators and not the good kind. Wolves and hunters never mix well. So when Avery's brother Sam is bitten by an Alpha named Kali, it's time to break a hundred year old hunters tradition and fight for the life of the family she loves. All roads lead back to a peculiar town named Beacon Hills and a certain Mr. Hale.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Party**

There was a full moon risen in Bellevue. Keys were jingling in Avery's hands. She was squinting in the dark to fit them into their socket, to escape the freezing cold that the night brought with it. Her automatic porch light must have blown a globe or something, usually it turned on as soon as she reached the patio. Regardless, she pulled out her phone and turned the screen on to see the key slot. Bag slung over shoulder and groceries hung from her forearm, she fumbled inside turning on the first light she could reach. Instantly she jumped back as a group of mysterious figures stood beyond the light. With haste she reached into her boot leg to draw a knife, holding it threateningly at the intruders.

"Surprise?!" they called half-heartedly, flicking on the lights to reveal balloons and cake in hand. With all the running around she'd been up to, she'd managed to forget her own birthday!

"Huh..." she laughed reluctantly.

"It's good to know little Avy's on the ball, but you can put the weapon down. It's only a surprise party!" her older brother, Sam, turned on another light. He was reasonably dressed up, in comparison to his usual parka and ripped jeans. Tonight his jeans were only slightly ripped and trusty jacket had been shed for a more casual V-neck tee. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the old jacket hanging on the back of a chair. She had too much faith in his sense of style.

"Actually, not a surprise at all," she toyed with him, "I just wanted to be the one to cut the cake!"

"And you're still full of bullshit I see." Sam walked over and wrapped Avery in a giant bear hug, the knife still in her hand, "I've missed you little sister."

"And I've missed you. How was Tallahassee? Catch any rogue wolves?"

"A few." he let go and slung one arm over her shoulder, leading her into the party. Her parents were standing in the middle, presents filling their arms.

"Mum. Dad. You shouldn't have!" she ran forward to relieve them of their gifts.

"Why not, I don't see any issue in spoiling our precious daughter on her special day." Brian Venator hugged his daughter and kissed her cheek.

"Happy Birthday dear." her mother Andrea handed her another gift.

"Well go on, open them." Sam nudged her.

Inside she was hoping that maybe it would be a nice dress, something she could wear out to a bar or club, but she already could guess what it would be. The only slightly normal present she had ever gotten for her birthday was a pair of hiking books, intended so that she could join the family on their 'hunting trips'. Her family was not exactly normal and she wouldn't wish her life any other way. They didn't hunt deer or even foxes. Her family hunted a very specific variety of wolf. _Werewolves_. They had done so for centuries.

So when Avery guessed what would be inside the fancifully wrapped boxes, she already knew they'd be some kind of weapon that some great great great grandfather used to defeat some deadly werewolf. That always seemed to be the case.

Pulling the wrapping paper back on the first present she found a cardboard box inside. She paused for a second, eyeing off her parents for any clues. Neither of them batted an eye. She pried open the cardboard to reveal a necklace neatly placed inside, with a silver locket at the bottom. The locket had an amethyst stone on the front and she could smell a familiar herb within. The necklace was housing wolfsbane. Actually, she stood corrected. This was now officially the most normal present.

"It's beautiful." she took it from it's little lilac pillow.

"We got this hand-crafted by one of the oldest surviving blacksmith families in all of Bellevue. We thought it'd be a good family heirloom in the long run." Andrea helped her put it around her neck.

"Look at the back. We got your name inscribed." Brian stated.

"I love it. Really."

"Well you're gonna love the next one even better." Sam boasted, lifting up a medium red one she'd put on the floor. He plonked it in her arms and smiled brightly. Underneath the wrapping this present wasn't as subtle, the bold letters over the box told me exactly what it was. A utility belt! At first Avery looked puzzled, until she opened the box to inspect it further. It was beautifully detailed.; Leather bound and of the highest quality, neatly sized pockets to fix all your favourite silver bullets, light bombs and even a spot to put a pack of chewing gum. The clasp around the middle to join it together had been custom made with a their family crest etched descriptively in the center.

"Where did you manage to get this?" she started to put it on to see what it looked like.

"A friend back in Tallahassee helped me put it together. I found all the leather myself and made the crest. She just helped bind it all together and make it look amazing." Sam rubbed the leather with pride.

"She?" Avery looked up at him curiously.

"Just a friend I met while staying there." Sam brushed off any idea that this 'she' might be more. He leant in for a hug and whispered in her ear, "I need to speak with you privately after Mum and Dad are gone. It's urgent."

"Sure." she whispered back.

Avery smiled and went off to socialize with the rest of the guest that were there. Most of the people there were hunters or from families of hunters. She had Uncles and Aunts there, Cousins and other distant relatives that she'd seen on and off during her travels. Her family had never stayed put in one town for very long, in fact they'd been in Bellevue for two years now only because Avery insisted she wanted to start living a slightly normal life. Sam was much older, almost thirty, so he'd already flown the coup a long time ago and made his way around the US continuing the family business. His recent hunting spot was in Tallahassee, Florida. It seemed harmless a while back, there were high crime levels in some parts of the city, but none of it could be left up to werewolves. Usually they like to stay where there is an abundance of national parks and reserves not in overcrowded cities. But then a string of random animal attacks hit the news, so Sam was off with a couple of hunting buddies and after some wolves. It had seemed that they'd emerged from an outlying national park and moved into the city to wreak some havoc. He'd been gone for six months already. It was a happy surprise that he had come to wish his sister a happy birthday.

There was a sudden knock at the door that gave Avery a slight shock, but she brushed it off and went to go see who was. Standing in it's arches, with the porch light now working, was another band of hunters who her family were very familiar with. The Argents!

"Chris, Kate, Vicky! How lovely that you could make it!" Andrea rushed to the door to greet old friends, "How was your car trip?"

"Pretty good. Heard some howling on the way though." Kate hugged Andrea.

"It's been too long." Victoria clasped her friends hand.

"And so this is what has become of the little Avery." Chris Argent stepped in the house, shutting the door behind him. Avery nodded with a slight laugh, she hadn't seen the Argents in at least five years.

"Not so little any more, not that I was a baby before anyway." Avery shook hands with her new guests, "Come on in, the party has only just begun."

"You know, I still don't agree with you putting your daughter on the front line." Avery could here Victoria complaining to her mother as they walked off into the living room.

Sam was chatting to a friend in the corner when he noticed that his parents attention had been taken by the Argents, leaving Avery free for him to talk to. He quietly excused himself, signaling Avery to follow him to her room. She did and closed the door behind her as she entered.

"What is it?" she asked as Sam began to pace back and forth nervously.

"Something bad has happened, Avy." he started to sweat, "I haven't told Mum or Dad because I'm petrified of what they'll do if they find out."

"Sam..." Avery moved slowly towards him, reaching out to comfort him.

"I shouldn't have come tonight, I've gotta get back home."

"Stop being so cryptic and spit it out." she grasped his shoulders and forced him to look into her eyes.

"I'm in love." he sighed.

"And...?" Avery sighed with relief also, "Congratulations. Mum and Dad will be happy that your loner ass finally found someone." she started to leave.

"She's a wolf." Sam spat out. Avery froze on the spot and let go of the door-handle. She didn't reply for a solid minute or so, just stood there silently thinking.

"Say something. Please." he asked softly.

"You're insane." she replied finally, "You want to be with one of... of _them_?"

"It's hard to explain—," Sam went to talk as she cut him off.

"You're damn right it is. You're supposed the be the big badass wolf hunting brother. You're the one that kills them without a second thought. You were the one that encouraged me when I felt conflicted that this was the right thing to do."

"Avy..."

"Don't _Avy_ me. Sam you're gonna have to kill her."

"Shut up for one second." he covered her mouth as she began to raise her voice, "Look, I didn't know she was a wolf at first. I just bumped into her one day and we hit it off. She only just told me."

"So you want my advice?" Avery questioned, removing her brothers hand.

"No, I need you to understand. What I thought they were, they're not. They're not all evil like our parents have lead us to believe." Sam was trying not to get frustrated.

"And did she tell you this?"

"Yes."

"How do you know she can be trusted? We've always been taught to trust family before anything else. What if she's lying to get to us, to finish off our bloodline." Avery was scratching her head.

"She's not. I can promise you that." he slumped his shoulders, "I want you to come back to Tallahassee with me to meet her. I need someone on my side when I try to explain it to Mum and Dad."

"Why me?"

"Everything we know is wrong. About them being evil and mindless. I've learnt so much from her and I need you on my side with this. It's going to change your world."

"If I do this, don't expect me to go unarmed and don't think that it means I agree with what you're doing." Avery said straight up, arms folded across her chest.

"I won't, just take everything at your own pace. As long as you're there and you're listening I'm pleased."

"Alright. We'll leave in the morning, no point dragging this out." she went to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to my party. I can still enjoy turning twenty despite your bombshell."


	2. Chapter 2

_Authors Note:_

Hey there you supermegafoxyawesomehot readers! Just thought I'd say hi up here (before the next chapter) and encourage you to leave a review if you like the story or have any constructive criticism. Reviews encourage writers to continue their work (obviously)! I should probably clarify that this is set towards the middle/ end of Season One. And Bellevue, it's an imaginary town in California. Enjoy your reading!

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**Chapter Two: Talks of Planes**

She couldn't be any more infuriated at the moment. Sam, being the cocky shit that he was, had just assumed she would go back with him and had booked a flight for her beforehand. That was a great big slap in the face! Sam insisted that it was because he had faith in his sisters judgement, but she couldn't help feeling angry with him.

She was packing a small bag, she didn't imagine she'd be gone for more than a week at best. But being a typical girl, Avery was trying to fit her entire closet inside. She was still wearing her necklace that her parents had given her and had put the belt inside with her belongings as well. She may not have told Sam, but if things went sour she wouldn't waste a second taking down any werewolf in sight.

"You realise that there is a weight limit for luggage, right?" Sam had stepped into her room. It was almost six in the morning and everyone else from the party had left a long time ago. Sam had stayed behind to help explain some further things to his dissuaded sister.

"This is packing light!" Avery defended herself, ignoring her brother by sticking in earphones and shoving her last tee-shirt back into the bag. Sam rolled his eyes and picked up her bag, taking it outside to the taxi that would take them to the airport.

"So... what did you tell Mum and Dad about our little trip?" Sam said as Avery locked up her apartment and followed him out to the car.

"I told them you wanted some help tracking down a particularly annoying wolf. Plus I was beginning to miss the action, ergo, I'm going back with you."

"They bought it?"

"Of course. Dad actually sounded intrigued and would have tagged along himself until I told him it was a long overdue sibling bonding time."

"Good." he nodded as they jumped into the back of the taxi, leaving the safety of Bellevue behind.

xxxx

On the plane the brother and sister duo couldn't help but grow increasingly nervous. Sam was thinking of all the things to tell Avery, to communicate the level of love he had for this girl. The way his heart skipped a beat when he was around her and he had to hold himself back from taking her where she stood each time they were alone. He could see her flawless golden skin on the back of his mind and could feel the tingle of their first kiss still on his lips. He could remember the way her short black hair had sat so perfectly on her shoulders, as his hands caressed through it and pulled her closer. Despite their differences he had managed to love this girl more than anyone beforehand. She wasn't a killer in the slightest, she was his soul mate.

Avery, on the other hand, was more nervous that she would accidentally kill the love of her brothers life. Everything she had ever known was to hunt and kill werewolves. They were ravenous murderers of the night that didn't have a second thought about killing on a full moon. She had killed at least a dozen in her time, admittedly not as many as her parents or brother but still an admirable number. What if she'd been wrong all this time and what Sam was claiming was true? That not all wolves were bad. It was a concept she didn't want to dwell on for too long. If she had been wrong, that would mean she may have killed a dozen innocents, but that was unlikely.

There was a code she had stuck by. She hadn't killed any wolf that hadn't killed a real innocent and she would not kill child wolves. But if any wolf killed one of their own, despite the code, they would die painfully. As the saying goes, an eye for an eye. In her gut she was hoping, praying, that all of this would be alright.

"Calm down tiger." Sam chuckled as he noticed Avery grasping the arm rest with a killer grip, "Flying isn't that scary. Especially in comparison to all the monsters we've faced over the years."

"It's not that." Avery sighed and crossed her arms in her plane chair, "I just have this sinking feeling in my gut that we're missing something. Like this meeting is going to end badly."

"Why? What coul—" Avery jumped and covered his mouth.

"Don't you dare say 'what could go wrong?'. In the horror movie someone always says that before they get killed."

"Fine, I won't. But honestly what are you thinking about?" Sam moved her hands from his mouth. She avoided his eye contact while she tried to think what not to put on her list of thoughts.

"First off, I'm still under the impression that this is a trap." Sam went to butt in when she continued on, "Then I'm trying to wrap my head around how you, the most amazing werewolf hunter I've ever seen in action, could suddenly sympathise with those monsters. I'm still annoyed at the fact you assumed I would just come too."

"Anything else?" Sam was quite amused by his sisters current discomfort.

"Yeah." she lowered her voice to a bare whisper, "If this all works out, I'm planning your summer wedding."

Sam had laughed for a solid minute or so, refusing to make eye contact with his sister. She was sitting beside him quite smugly and just when he thought he'd be alright, her expression set him off again. A few air hostesses walked past to check if he was okay and Avery had to tell them that, no the squealing noises were not him dying, but indeed his ridiculous laugh.

"You haven't told me her name." Avery finally said once Sam had stopped crying with laughter.

"Ilena." he grinned to no one in particular, picturing her smile.

"And you couldn't pick a girlfriend with a normal name could you...?" Avery picked up one of the airline magazines to browse, flicking through the advertisements for watches.

"She's not exactly ordinary herself." he stated obviously.

"Yes well that's being straight forward." she smirked, spotting a coupon for a local restaurant in Tallahassee, "Been to this place before?"

"Um... no, actually. I've seen it before though." Sam took the coupon to inspect it, "Carlos's Italian. It's great there, food's delicious from what I hear."

"How 'bout you take us out." Sam handed the magazine back, slightly confused. He had already told her the arrangements. They were going to meet at Sam's apartment. "Think of it this way. If we're in the public there's less chance of me pulling a gun to her head and splattering her guts onto your walls. Plus I'll feel more comfortable that it's not a set up, alright?"

"I love how everything always keeps coming back to that." Sam rolled his eyes, "There'll be no guns, no weapons, no... no wolfsbane filled necklaces." he looked down to see the pendant hanging on her neck. She thought she might have been able to get away with that. Dammit.

"I'm not going in there unarmed." she protested, "I'm a hunter. I always have something on me."

"I'm not joking Avery. No weapons. This is not a showdown and I don't want you to turn it into one."

"Fine..." she sighed reluctantly, pulling the coupon from it's place in the magazine, "But I'm keeping the necklace on, whether you like it or not."

##################

"Is the GPS working?" Brian questioned his wife who had a black folder opened up on her lap, which was secretly a computer.

"In the necklace? Yes." Andrea nodded as she continued typing, checking where their children's plane currently was.

"He's going to hate you for this..." said a voice walking up beside the couple at the airport. _Kate Argent_.

"Maybe." Brian shook his head in disagreement, "I think he'll thank us eventually."

"He's been brainwashed. All wolves are killers." Andrea looked away from her screen as she felt sickened to her stomach, "To think that he's had his hands all over—."

"—A wolf girl? I could imagine." Kate was thinking about it too, much more pleased than Andrea. That was one hunter who rocked hobo-chic.

"The weapons will get through customs right? Without them we can't hope of fighting a pack as big as that." Andrea shifted her thoughts away from her sons sexual life.

"Yeah. I've got people on the inside making sure that they are taken good care of." Kate smiled, "I'll meet you there in a couple of days. I've got some things of my own to sort out."

"The Hale kid?" Brian questioned, he'd briefly talked to Chris Argent about the issue they were having back in Beacon Hills. He would have offered to help, had his son not been taken in by the wolves.

"Derek's no kid anymore." Kate smirked, in fact he had grown far past puberty. His muscular body was currently tied up in the Hale basement being tortured for information. She could still taste his sweat that she had licked off his torso a couple of days earlier. His cries of torture made her spine prick happily. She had to pull herself back from her thoughts when Brian spoke again.

"We should have taken him out when Sam first told us what he was." Brian was remembering the heated past that their family had had with the Hales.

"No point crying over spilt milk." Kate said with a huff, "I've got to go. We're hunting an Alpha!"

"Thank you for your help again." Brian walked over and hugged his old friend, Andrea had put down the laptop and farewelled Kate also.

"Stay safe." Andrea waved goodbye as Kate left back home for Beacon Hills.

"I don't want another repeat of his senior year." she turned to her husband once Kate was out of sight.

"I know." Brian said simply. All the while, both Venator's were reminiscing about the past revelation that Sam's childhood friend was a wolf, the attack on Avery by the Hale pack and then the house fire that killed the majority of the them.

It was almost as if it history was repeating itself.


	3. Chapter 3

_Authors__ Note:_

Did you realise that 75% of the fics on here for Teen Wolf are about OC's (most are terribly summarised and written), 10% is Sterek stuff and the last 5 is just other stuff about canon characters eating cake and what if Isaac fell in love with his freezer or something. Actually I made that last one up, but still! I am going to make this story as interesting as I can, without falling into the terrible Mary Sue category! That rant was pointless, anyways...

Now we're having a flashback. Whoop whoop for history! After this we're going back to the normal plot, but I wanted to flesh out the Venators pasts. I hate being cryptic, so the last chapter with all the talk of the 'bad blood' between the Hales and Ventors I had to write this. We also get to see some more about Sam which I felt was important. Why am I giving you spoilers... just read you fantastic person!

Enjoy :)

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**Chapter Three: There's History Between Us.**

_TEN YEARS AGO._

"No. I'm not doing this." Sam refused as his parents stood threateningly in front of him, "I'm not testing to see if Derek's a werewolf!"

Brian and Andrea shared concerned glances and nodded after a moment of silence. They had to tell their son the truth.

"We think he killed the girl, Sam." Brian said outright.

"Why would he kill her? Before we left on a hunting trip, he was head over heels for Paige. I doubt that he brutally murdered the girl he loved." Sam's voice rose.

"That's the most disturbing part of it." Andrea shook her head, beginning to pace back and forth.

"My friend is not a killer."

"Then there should be no problem doing a small test on him. Give him the ring and if he doesn't react to the wolfsbane in it, we'll drop it and apologise until the end of time." Brian held his sons shoulders firmly.

The three hadn't been overly noisy, but just enough, that it woke little Avery. She walked down the flight of stairs to the foyer, where the rest of the family was, rubbing her eyes. Her spare hand was tightly gripping a stuffed teddy creatively named 'Mr. Bear'. As a ten year old she may not have been the most knowledgable in the world of the supernatural, but she knew what they were talking about. Fighting off the big bad evil werewolves. The ones that took the children away from their parents and vise-versa. Her family were a bunch of heroes protecting the innocent. She couldn't wait to be like them.

"We have to fight the wolves Sam." she came from the last step and grasped her brothers hand, smiling. Their mother walked closer and rested her hand on Brian's shoulder. They all stood there silently, connected.

"If you're so sure, then what do you have to worry about?" Andrea smiled sweetly, she hoped too that they were wrong.

"Only if you're right." Sam angrily shook them off and rushed up to his room, slamming his door behind him.

The first thing he would do when he saw his best friend, after their trip, would be sealing a terrible fate he couldn't avoid. Confirming Derek's death. He tried to go to sleep, laying in the darkness of his room. He kept seeing Derek die in different ways over and over again. Cut in half, beheaded, electrocuted, shot, poisoned, stabbed... _heartbroken_. He hoped that Derek was human with all his might. If he wasn't, and had indeed killed innocent Paige, Sam would personally put a bullet in the back of his skull and mount his head on a pike as a warning for all of his kind to see.

Best friend or not, werewolves were the enemy. Werewolves that had killed? They were demonic.

xxxx

Sam was just about to leave the school hallway, to go to lacrosse try outs, when a hand smashed his locker door closed.

"So, you're back." the person responsible slouched onto the adjacent locker.

"Yep." Sam avoided making eye contact, as he reopened his the door to get his bag out, "Do you think Coach will let me back on the team?"

"Depends if you're staying for long. If your parents drag you across the country again, I doubt it."

"It's been too long, Derek." Sam looked up and stopped giving him the cold shoulder, a huge grin consuming his face. Derek smiled brightly back as they they gave each other a great big friendly hug, patting one another on the back warmly. Sam was trying his hardest not to let his heart falter.

"That it has, Sammy. So what'd you bring me back this time?" Derek pushed his old friend ahead of him as he swung around his lacrosse stick.

"Don't laugh... but a ring." Sam gushed slightly.

"Serious?" Derek stopped in his place and burst out laughing, "Let's go find a chapel and get married then. I'm sure that's legal in Las Vegas."

"I'm not that thoughtful." Sam laughed too and continued, relieved that Derek wasn't thinking much of it. He hadn't noticed the smell of wolfsbane which was a good sign.

"So why a ring?" Derek asked him as they walked down a flight of stairs.

"Because it's insanely cool." Sam reached to zip open his bag and pulled out the silver thing. Admittedly, as soon as Derek laid eyes on it, he too thought it was 'insanely cool'. It had some kind of celtic design in the middle of it, and it looked like it could open up to fit something small inside. If only he had being paying more attention...

"It's yours." Sam chucked it over to him. This was the moment of truth. Derek smiled as the ring flew the air and he caught it in his bare hands. A bit of the wolfsbane inside had come out, as Sam had thrown it, and he'd seen the purple powder be inhaled by his suspect. Initially Derek didn't react, some wolves weren't as sensitive, but after what felt like an eternity he frowned. More of the wolfsbane had spilled from it, like expected, causing Derek to drop the ring and fall back wheezing.

Sam's head dropped. In place of the smile he had been wearing, took hold a harder frown. Derek looked up at him with shock realising that Sam had expected this kind of effect would happen.

"You did kill her." Sam could have started to cry at this revelation. Derek slumped down on a row of lockers as he couldn't control himself shifting back and forth. His eyes were icy blue... more confirmation.

"You were my friend." Sam continued, his voice strained with hurt.

"You don't understand. I didn't kill her because I wanted to." Derek was trying to cough away the wolfsbane in the back of his throat, but it wouldn't budge.

"She was cut up and bitten! She had claw marks through her stomach." Sam protested, picking the ring up and putting it on, "That's not accidental."

"I didn't bite her. She was dying already. Her body was rejecting the bite, she asked me to make it stop."

"Who's the Alpha that bit her then?" Sam pulled his fist back meaning to strike Derek if he didn't respond. Derek used all the strength in his body to push away Sam and make a run for it. His lungs were burning as he ran, the other boy chasing behind him. Derek was almost at the exit as Sam came from behind and tackled him to the ground. Fist raised, he brought the first punch down hard, drawing blood as he did.

"WHO?!" Sam screamed as he continued to punch Derek back and forth. Derek was trying to fight back tears as his supposed friend continued to bash him around. He would push him off only to receive another punch. The face. The stomach. The head. He was getting weaker and weaker. The energy was draining from his system.

"Please." Derek was pleading as Sam threw him across the floor and was preparing the strike him again.

"You were supposed to be normal!" Sam screamed, as his voice cracked through tears, "You were supposed to be my friend!"

"I am." Derek was holding his hands up in surrender, "I am!"

"You're a wolf. I'm a hunter. We're not friends." Sam spat in Derek's face, "I had hoped that I was wrong."

Derek got to his feet trembling, his face was covered in blood and gashes from where Sam's fist had collided. His mouth was swimming with the taste of rust.

"You're a hunter?" Derek's own gaze had hardened and now the two stood alone in the hallway as the sun had begun to set. It was getting darker.

Sam looked down at his own fists to see a mixture of his and Derek's blood covering them. He felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't tell whether it was because he had just beat his best friend to a pulp or the fact that said friend was a murderous werewolf. A deadly mixture of guilt and hatred had begun to boil inside of him.

"Yes." Sam replied coldly. Both boys had wiped away their tears; a line had been drawn in the sand, "You need to go."

"No." Derek replied, his hands shaking in fear.

"My parents are going to be here any minute waiting to hear the verdict."

"What are you going to tell them?" Derek's words echoed in the emptiness. Sam paused and shut his eyes. Derek continued to stare at Sam as he breathed out the last of the wolfsbane in his system. He could hear Sam's heart raging in its place. Sam was trying to decide what to do with Derek, he wanted to kill him. He wanted to make him pay for lying to him. But he also wanted to protect him.

"I'm going to give you a second chance." Sam looked up, throat dry, "You said it was an accident, that you helped her find peace?"

Derek nodded and took a step forward. Sam flinched and flashed Derek a dangerous glare not to come any closer.

"You said that another Alpha did it." Sam continued as Derek stopped moving. The wolf nodded again, "Tell me the Alpha's name and I'll tell my parents you're not a wolf. I'll cover for you."

"Ennis." Derek said without second thought, he was still blaming him for Paige's death. Sam nodded a thank-you at the beaten-up wolf.

"We weren't staying for long anyways. They'll want to track the Alpha down instead." Sam said, realising he should ask more, "Do you have a pack?"

"I'm not an omega, if that's what you're asking." Derek didn't give any identities away.

"Warn them to be cautious. There are more hunters coming here soon. I don't want to see anyone hurt that doesn't need to be." Sam turned away, heading towards the school exit. Derek went to say something, but by the time he opened his mouth, Sam was gone.

xxxx

_TWO WEEKS LATER._

Neither of the boys had spoken. They didn't need to. Sam kept up pretenses with his parents that all was swell. He came up with lies about the things that they had gotten up to at school. Teasing girls and being bummed on Sam not making the lacrosse team. Brian had been annoyed, his son was a werewolf hunter for one, much more agile that most boys on the team. He would have had a word to the coach unless Sam had told him he didn't care anyway. They'd be off again in a month or so hunting down killers. He didn't have the guts to tell his parents the truth; he'd missed try-outs while almost killing Derek after finding out he was the very thing they despised.

One afternoon, upon getting home, he found his mother shrieking from upstairs. Grabbing a gun from underneath one of the coffee tables he raced to the source of the noise. Avery's bedroom. Andrea was clutching a small body in her arms, as she cried out in anguish.

"My baby." she kept repeating over and over. Sam put the gun down as he saw the blood stained letter next to her. A bolded spiral was almost a signature at the bottom.

_"This is our town. You play by our rules. If you harm one of ours, we'll harm one of yours. Eye for an eye... Leave this town and we won't lay a single finger on your family again." _

Sam peered around his mother to see who the little body belonged to. It was Avery. She was as battered and bruised as Derek had been. She even had the slashes in her face that had matched. Sam could remember that face as clear as day, it had plagued him in nightmares since he had beaten Derek. His heart stopped when he thought that she wasn't moving. Had they killed his sister? Had Derek's pack murdered Avery?

He breathed a sigh of relief as she whimpered in her Mothers arms, holding tightly. He got to his knees and held his head in his hands. She was alright, his little sister wasn't dead. Despite the future counseling she may have to endure, she'd live. Andrea was checking the child over to ensure there were no bites on her body, they didn't want to deal with that as a problem.

"Just some small scratches sweetheart. You were very brave." Andrea picked up her daughter and placed her softly on the bed. Avery snuggled against Andrea again.

"Do you know what they looked like?" Andrea asked softly, inspecting the slashes on her daughters cheek. Only one of them was slightly deep.

"They looked like wolves." Avery explained she was being braver than anyone could expect, "They kicked the door down and I ran to hide."

"What colour were their eyes?" Sam asked, Andrea gave him an angry glare. She didn't want to push her daughter too much.

"One had red eyes and the other two had yellow ones." Avery nodded, picturing them inside her head. She was not afraid of big bad wolves, her face just stung, especially when her salty tears had gotten into her cuts.

"But I got in the cupboard," Avery wanted to tell the story of her bravery, "I got the electric stick Dad gave me for my last birthday. I think they heard me breathing. The yellow eyed one opened the closet but I got his leg with the stick." she was smiling. Sam got up to go fetch the first aid kit while she continued.

"One of the ugly yellow eyes snapping it in half and scratched me and pushed me over. He was very strong. Then they roared at me and dropped the note. I didn't cry the whole time!" the more she thought about it, the happier she grew. This was her first proper encounter with a wolf and she had won. She'd fought off the evil people.

"I'm very proud of you." Andrea stroked her hair and felt relieved herself. Brian and herself had raised their child well, never to stand down in the face of danger. When Sam re-entered the room with the first aid kit, she could tell he knew more than he was letting on.

"Derek's a wolf isn't he." she said it outright. Sam looked up, caught in her piercing gaze, as her expression changed to one of disappointment. The look on his face gave it all away. Brian was out there now with the rest of the hunters looking for the werewolf alpha, Ennis. It seemed their cause was lost.

"I used the ring like you told me." Sam explained emotionally, "He reacted. I got so mad... I just kept hitting him over and over again. Beating him and screaming." The scene flashed back on his mind. The more he explained, the more his mother kept nodding over and over. She got to her feet after cleaning Avery's wounds and putting a large plaster over them. She believed what her son had told her, she believed that Derek had been telling the truth. She never thought he was the sort of boy who could attack someone like that, werewolf or otherwise. To an extent his actions were noble. But it relieved her to know that the alpha, Ennis, was still the main priority.

"I need to call your father and discuss this." Andrea said once Sam was done.

Soon the Venators were gone. They had beaten a previous record for 'shortest time spent in a town'. They'd only been back for just four weeks when their bags were packed and they were travelling across the country again.

Heated discussions had determined that the Argents would take over the post in Beacon Hills while the Venators held watch with five other hunting groups in Manhattan. There was a wolf epidemic starting over their too. The Argents already had a lead on three packs trying to make trouble around Beacon Hills. Gerard had even been brought on this one too. They left the secret of Derek Hale's true identity alone, thanks only to the pleas of desperation from Sam.

All the Argents had to know, was that a local wolf pack attacked Avery and they weren't equipped well enough to handle the situation. In reality, their shortcomings were purely psychological rather than physical.

No sorries. No good-byes. Best friends torn apart, before they even had the chance to reconcile.

xxxx

_FOUR YEARS LATER._

"Oh my god!" Avery covered her mouth, as she watched the news. There were dozens of television crews staked outside the house that firefighters were still trying to put out. A house that had belonged to the Hale family.

_"__This is Karol Summers reporting to you live for NBC News. _There a several confirmed deaths onsite, but we can confirmed two survivors though. One is in intensive care for third degree burns, but stable, and the other escaped with only small smoke inhalation damage_—_. " 

"Sam. Sam!" she called as her brother had been practicing loading up his bow and arrow for a hunting trip later that night. Ever since he'd turned nineteen and finished school all he had done was partake in the family business. Hunting and killing the dangerous wolves, but his encounter with Derek had always haunted him. It kept him grounded.

"What Avy?" he moped in, halting when he saw what was on the news,"Is he alright?"

Sam didn't have to say who, for Avery to know who Sam was concerned about.

_"We have more information of the two surviving members of the fire. We can now identify them as Peter and Derek Hale._"

"I remember Derek's sister." Avery had sat down on the edge of the couch listening, hoping to hear more names. She had been to Cora Hale's house many times as when she was younger, they had been friends as children, "They can't all be dead."

But they were. Sam's actions four years ago had lead to this, whether he knew it or not. The Argents taking their place in Beacon Hill, then deciding to raise a family there. Kate finding out who the 'local pack' was. Her plan to manipulate Derek's affections. Learning how to commit arson and get off scott-free. It all came down to Sam's actions, in a twisted way.

None of them would know the truth about the Hale fire though, not until a new alpha began wreaking terror in Beacon Hills years later. Not until their own family was torn apart and thrust dangerously further into the world of the supernatural.


	4. Chapter 4

_Authors Note_:

Woo! I got my first review. Admitted it wasn't the most creative but it was a start. So random guest, this chapter is for you because you so 'eagerly' asked me to update.

In other news, you get to meet Ilena now! Got any questions don't be afraid to ask them!

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**Chapter Four: Meeting the Sister**

The Ventor siblings had two very different outlooks for the night. Both readied themselves for the drama to come, inside Sam's small apartment. Avery had taken the guest room, which she hadn't stepped foot out of, since they arrived.

She was a nervous wreck. She kept pacing back and forth trying to decide how best to hide half a dozen chinese ring daggers. She had promised Sam that she wouldn't bring any weapons to the dinner, but the more she thought about it the easier it was to reason breaking said promise. She needed insurance in case anything did go wrong. She had faith in her brothers judge of character, that this Ilena girl was perfectly harmless, but she didn't know how she felt about the rest of her pack. Sam had briefly mentioned that he had met members of her pack, who were just as hostile as she was about the whole hunter/ wolf relationship.

She finally figured out the right place to hide them, when she heard a knock on her door, quickly standing up and pretending to check herself out in a floor length mirror. Sam walked in slowly and smiled.

"Feeling nauseous?" he asked, knowing all too well that this night was making everyone jittery.

"A little." Avery nodded, actually paying attention to her own reflection. She wasn't interested in looking too-nice, she had picked clothes that would be flexible if she needed to be mobile. Jeans and a reasonably dressy shirt would have to do. Sam walked up behind her and picked up the wolfsbane necklace that had been sitting on the dresser.

"I really wish you wouldn't insist on wearing this." he gazed at the deadly necklace, remembering the last time a similar piece of jewelry had ripped his world apart.

"It won't be like what happened with Derek." Avery turned back to face him, sincerity in her eyes, "If there's any foul play, it won't be on my part."

"Thank-you." Sam nodded back, he felt incredibly proud of his little sister right now. He gave her a little spin and clipped the pendant on for her. Silently, he left the room and returned to waiting on the lounge.

Avery felt guilty for keeping the daggers hidden, but didn't remove them. With one last glance she straightened up her jacket and gave her hair a little bit of a push for volume. Her eyes brushed past the old scar on her cheek, trying not to remembering how she had received it. With all the hope in the world, she wanted this to work out for Sam. If things were left up to her, there would be no more scars tonight.

There was another knock, this time not on the guest room door. With a clenched jaw, Avery left the safety of her hide out and readied herself for the beginning of a very long night. Sam was already at the door, faster than even Avery could have usually given him credit. He peered through the peep hole, finding just who he longed for. Pulling the door back, the wolf girl entered with a nervous smile as Sam pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

"I've missed you so much." his words sounded eager. Ilena nodded back sweetly as her eyes caught hold of the silent silhouette in the corner of the room. Sam noticed it too and turned around to do introductions.

"Please, take a seat. Ilena, Avery. Avery, Ilena" he closed the door, "I'll just grab my coat and we can go."

The living room was silent as the two girls sized each other up, trying to work out a battle plan if things did not work out.

Ilena was just as Sam described. She had a small olive skinned figure, but her facial features were bold and strong. She was wearing a tight black dress with red flats, her black pixie cut hair barely reaching her shoulders. Her eyes were a warm brown and her blank expression left Avery guessing her true motives. She could see exactly how Sam had fallen for her, she was gorgeous.

Ilena, like Avery, had also being quietly checking out her competition. She had begged the Alpha to let her have this one night to try and convince the female hunter of her affections, somehow being allowed. Her pack promised to stay away from the little Italian restaurant, but not too far. If the hunters were playing them, all she'd have to do was howl and they'd bring their enemies down with quick slashes to the neck. The quirky brunette was clearly not the best at subtly, as her eyes never moved from Ilena, waiting for her brother to come back.

She looked like she could be dangerous. Ilena didn't have to be an idiot to realise the girl wasn't wearing a dress because she was a tomboy; she wanted to be able to move if there was danger. Ilena wished she had taken her lead, but there was no point crying over spilt milk. Also, the coat was a dead give away for hidden weapons.

Avery's blue gaze was now trained on Ilena's body, noting her outfit for possible weapons as well. Ilena knew she did have any. Upon the female hunters face, was a clear gash to the cheek. It looked like it had been there for a long time. She vaguely remembered Sam telling her about a run in with a werewolf pack in California when he was younger.

"Hope you two aren't ready to tear each others throats out!" Sam joked as he re-entered the room with his coat on. The girls looked at him disapprovingly.

"Right then. I see that's not funny." he shrugged away the tension in the air. The girls glanced back at one other again, still trying to work each other out.

"Stop it." Sam shouted at them both as an awkward silence tried to take hold, "Don't do this. Please. Tonight's supposed to be about connecting the two sides, not drawing them further apart."

"I'm sorry." Ilena got to her feet from the couch, her apology seemed to be directed at both Venators, "I'm Ilena." she walked forward, with arm extended to Avery.

"Avery." she took it politely. Hadn't they already done this?

"Sam told me that you were the one to suggest a dinner reservation."

"Yeah." Avery smiled, remembering the reason why.

"I have to agree that I prefer my guts not splattered everywhere." she added coyly. Avery's eyes opened wide with embarrassment and she punched Sam in the arm.

"Why'd you tell her that?" Avery frowned, but secretly she was starting to like Ilena.

"Don't worry, I can tell you plenty of embarrassing moments he's had!" Ilena went to talk as Sam covered her mouth.

"We do not speak of that moment!" he shouted, but she pried his hand away.

"Fine! Fine!" she laughed it off, "I'll have to tell you later when he's not around."

"Well that'll definitely give me a reason not to leave you two alone." Sam slung his arm over Ilena and gave her a noogie. She groaned as she fixed up her hair.

"Let's be off then." Avery joined in the smiles.

After the initial awkwardness of the night, the three jumped into Sam's car and sped of towards the restaurant.

"You big fat liar." Ilena nudged Sam as he drove, upon hearing the revelation that Avery had only found out about their relationship the day before, "Seriously only yesterday?"

"Pulled me away from my party and all." Avery chuckled as Sam went red.

"I'm so sorry dear!" Ilena tried to apologise on his behalf, "I can't imagine what a shock it must be for you."

"That he has a girlfriend? Yes, we always thought he was gay." Avery said straight out, Sam went even redder. Ilena laughed loudly.

"I like the girl." she nodded to no one in particular, "I wish I had a sister that had that much faith and trust in me."

"Well we Venators are taught to stick together." Sam said as he spotted the restaurant and a fantastic parking spot out the front.

"It's very noble of you." Ilena continued.

"I just do what he would for me." Avery unbuckled herself from the car as they all began to get out.

"You can stop being so modest." Ilena was standing by her side once they got out of the car. The two had almost forgotten that Sam was still there. Sam walked ahead and let the girls have their moment, no longer feeling sick about the night. Things were going well.

Once seated and all dishes were ordered, Avery got down to the real business of the night.

"Okay so wolf jokes aside, how did you manage to convince him not to shoot you where you stood when you told him?" she asked. Ilena paused as she tried to think of the best way to to explain it.

"We had been seeing each other for about a month or so. I was born a wolf, so when the full moons came around he didn't realise anything was different. But one moon I was out with my pack, trying to control some newbies, and the hunters found us." Ilena grabbed Sam's hand and gazed longingly into his eyes, "As soon as he saw me he called the whole thing off."

"It wasn't easy." Sam admitted, breaking their stare, to be honest with his sister.

"For a really long time we both had trust issues. We were both terrified of one another. That all they'd want to do is kill us. So we talked it over and there was a lot of screaming and tears."

"We had to come to the realisation that what we were, didn't define who we were. There's so many misconceptions between us." Sam had reached over the table to grab his sister's hand too.

"Like the code." Ilena spoke, "As much as I don't agree with it, I can understand it. But before Sammy, I would have assumed that hunters killed all wolves that moved. For hunters, especially when you get bad packs, I would absolutely agree with shooting them down."

"Isn't your pack one of them? That's why you came here in the first place, because of the wolf attacks?" Avery questioned Sam, he nodded.

"That's what I thought too, but it was actually a feral pack. They're werewolves who live in the wild, away from modern society. They think that packs like Ilena's are a disgrace to the name werewolf. They're a minority, but they can cause a lot of drama."

"But it's in a wolf's nature to kill!" Avery insisted.

"Yes. But just because it's our nature, doesn't mean we indulge in it. With proper guidance we can learn to control it, to control the wolf before it controls us."

"I've lost close friends because of your kind." Avery clenched her jaw, finding Ilena's words hard to believe. It was much easier when things were black and white.

"My kind. Not me." Ilena took Avery's hands in her own, "I'm not here to make you give up hunting, especially since this has all been thrown on you very last minute, but I am here to convince you that despite everything your brother and I are truly in love."

The night's conversation went round in similar circles. Avery questioning Ilena, Ilena questioning Avery and Sam questioning the waiters where their food was!

"It's not even that busy in here!" Sam finally cracked after they'd been there for an hour and their entrees hadn't even come out yet.

"When I asked you if this place was any good Sam, I should have told you that if the food takes longer than an hour to be served it's not five star quality." Avery leaned back in her chair as her stomach rumbled.

"Well if it's alright with you, I've had enough waiting. Let's get out of here." Ilena said as her stomach copied Avery's, admittedly much louder.

So without hesitation the three got up to leave as one of the waiters saw them, racing up to them before they could get out of the door.

"Oh, you can not go yet! Your food is just about ready!" he stuttered.

"You've been telling us that since we got here." Sam scoffed and tried to get past, the man wouldn't move.

"Move it buddy." Ilena stepped forward and almost chucked the guy out of the way, he fell back with fright and resumed serving the other table there. Once outside they all broke out in laughter.

"Did you see the look on his face?!" Avery laughed trying to re-create the shocked face that a female had lifted him off the ground and moved him out of the way.

"I think he'll need to go punch a wall or something to regain his manliness." Sam added, slinging his arm around his girlfriend. She was smiling too until she heard something off in the distance. A gun loading. In an instant she looked up at Sam in terror.

"We need to get into that car now." she said with urgency, as she pulled him forward and took the keys from his hand. The three didn't have time to get there though, before a red laser was pointing at Ilena's heart.

"Get down!" she screamed, ducking behind the row of cars. A lone bullet flew through the air, smashing the window of the store next to Carlos'. It smashed into shards as Ilena crawled towards the car, keys still in hand.

"Quick! Get in the car!" she unlocked it with the button and the siblings got to their feet and scrambled inside. Ilena was quickly following them and jumped into the drivers seat, starting the car and flooring it to get out of there.

"What the hell was that?" Avery shouted in the back seat. Ilena went to respond, when suddenly she could smell a terrible scent in the air. _Wolfsbane_. She turned around to see Avery fixing her necklace that was now bent in on one side, some of the herb being spilt onto her hands.

"You're wearing a wolfsbane necklace?!" Ilena growled at the young hunter as her eyes started to flash colour. Her head began to pound as her nose picked up more and more of the scent, "Are you an idiot, get rid of it!"

"No it was a gift!"Avery held it tighter, afraid the wolf would yank it from her neck.

"That's not the least of our problems..." Sam trailed off, noticing the fuel tank was sitting on empty.

"But... but... It was full when we left it." Avery shook her head, she turned in her seat to see the oil trail that the car was making. Not only were they leading the shooter to them, they were running out of a way to escape them. "Someone must have punched a hole in the tank."

"Fuck it." Ilena bit her lip slamming onto the brakes of the car.

"What are you doing?" Avery said confused.

"Get out, we're running." the wolf responded, her eyes still flashing back and forth, "Sam take Avery and run north through the alleyways. I'll run south."

"No, I'm not leaving you." Sam shook his head.

"I won't be alone." Ilena smiled, getting from the car. Thrusting her head back she loosed a noisy howl, that the entire city would have been able to hear. She was calling in the reinforcements.


	5. Chapter 5

_Authors Note:_

More reviews again, thank you Caroline for your words of encouragement :) I hope this chapter isn't too sad for anyone, so enjoy.

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**Chapter Five: Bloody Encounters**

"So which one of your dumbass friends is responsible for this?" Avery panted as the two siblings jogged in and out of alleyways.

"I have no idea. None of us have snipper rifles with us." Sam puffed too.

"Although I'm currently quite against them, I'm questioning why you don't have them in your arsenal. They are the best weapons to attack wolves from long distance."

"We had one, but Ilena snapped it half." Sam scoffed half heartedly, Avery could see he was worried about his girlfriend.

"Well it's good to know that she can handle herself."

"That's the thing though. The laser was trained on her, not us. If anyone was trying to kill her, they'd have a harder time if we protected her. Hunters can't kill humans and I fear that because we've left her alone they don't have to be cautious."

"Stop." Avery yanked at his arm and examined his expression. He was genuinely freaked out, "Right, we'll go back. I want you to take these." she opened her coat to reveal the chinese ring daggers.

"You brought weapons even after I begged you not to?!" he shouted, she was quick to cover his mouth.

"Yes I did, that's besides the point now." she handed him three, "We go back and find her, stand in the way of the bullets and talk down her would be killer, alright?"

"Uh-huh." Sam nodded, reluctant to take the weapons.

"Since I'm not in the business of killing hunters, we only attack our own on the limbs. Arms and legs that's all. I will not be responsible for a fatality of a hunter."

"Let's go." Sam said and, with a quick pivot, the two were back searching for Ilena.

xxxx

Ilena hid in the shadows of an abandoned warehouse, waiting for her pack to catch her scent and back her up. She could hear footsteps outside trying to find her, the hunters were faster than she had expected. She held her breath and held herself closer to the wall when the footsteps stopped and backtracked to the entrance of the warehouse.

"You take the back." one whispered, it sounded male.

"I'll wait out here for it." responded a female one. But their plan was short lived, as a rumbling growl echoed through the air, a sign that her rescue squad was there.

"Inside!" the female shouted as they kicked down the door and ran in. There were four other people with them, dressed completely in black.

Guns went off and crossbows began to fire violently. Ilena ran forward from her hiding spot to join in the fight. Her claws came out of her hands and her canines were bared for all to see. The hunters were using flares to try and fight the wolves off by blinding them, which would have worked until they ran out of them. Ilena counted four from her pack, not including herself, but two were missing! Where was Jarred and her alpha _Kali_?

xxxx

Despite the fact that their childhoods had been torture, with all the training and exercise regimes, Avery had never thanked her parents enough. Currently their mission to find Ilena had been put on hold, as two wolves had begun chasing them instead of the real hunters. It wasn't like she'd never run away from wolves before, that had been a given in her line of profession, she'd just never tried to outrun an Alpha before. Sam was in the lead trying to weave in and out of the alleys they'd once come through, while she threw bins down after her to try and slow the wolves down. They hadn't even given the two a proper moment to explain. All they had seen, was them holding the daggers and running towards where the howl had come from and put the wrong pieces of the puzzle together.

_There was a terrible crashing noise up ahead which forced the Ventors to come to a grinding holt. Straight in front of them was a pair of yellow and red eyes. They stalked forward out of the darkness and approached the two with sneers. Their eyes had caught hold of the daggers in their hands._

_"I should have guessed that'd it be you to turn your back on Ilena." the red eyed she-wolf said, as her face came into view. _

_"Kali, it's not what it seems. It's not us after her." Sam shook his head, he obviously knew the Alpha from past encounters. _

_"Shut it pretty boy." the beta snapped._

_"We've had enough of you hunters murdering us for sport or whatever twisted fantasy you live in that justifies your actions." Kali started to crack her knuckles. Sam and Avery were slowly backing away. _

_"I'm not trying to murder anyone!" Sam cried as Kali growled, thinking he was lying. Avery was gripping her dagger tighter as the confrontation continued._

_"I think... even if they're telling the truth it'd be beneficial to off 'em. We'll just have to tell Ilena that the other hunters mistook them as wolves and slit their throats." the beta lunged at the two. Avery jumped in front of her brother instinctively and slashed the attacking wolfs face, getting his eye as she did. He yelped backwards in pain which gave the siblings a chance to run for it._

They had almost lost sight of the Alpha when they could hear the sound of gunfire in a nearby warehouse.

"Do you think—?" Avery thought out loud

"I hope not." Sam responded as they headed towards the noise. When they reached the front of the place, there was black cars parked to block a quick exit. They climbed over one and held their daggers up in the air. They were ready to attack.

"Not so fast pipsqueak." said the familiar voice of the beta wolf as he grabbed her wrist and yanked her back. Before she had time to fight him again, he had taken the daggers from her hand and twisted her arms behind her back. Ahead, Kali had done a similar thing to Sam. Another shot was fired inside and they could hear one of the wolves being taken down.

"Looks like you two get to live." Kali smirked, dragging in Sam. The beta pulled Avery along too.

"So then." Kali stood in the doorway as the fighting halted for a second, "Shall we do a trade?"

The hunters inside froze, catching sight to the two captured siblings. They weren't random hunters at all. They weren't Sam's friends either. A couple of them Avery recognised as her parent's hunting partners and then, standing in the middle of all the fighting, was the devilish pair. They had guns held high and bloodied faces, determined to bring down all the werewolves in close proximity to them.

"Mum? Dad?" Avery questioned, in absolute shock that they were the hunters behind this.

"Oh don't look so innocent." Kali frowned at the girl, "I highly doubt that you weren't in on this."

"Avery?" Sam turned to her, convinced by Kali's words.

"I swear I didn't tell them anything." Avery pleaded, Sam didn't believe her until his dad spoke.

"She's telling the truth Sam." Brian reloaded his gun, "We put a tracking device in her necklace."

Avery looked down at the piece of jewelry hanging from her neck, feeling betrayed by her parents.

"We couldn't let this continue anymore." Andrea said, "You and that thing standing there, are over."

"I'm glad we agree on something." Kali taunted, tracing her claws along Sam's neck.

"Don't hurt him." Ilena called, going to race forward. Brian stepped in front of her and raised his gun to her forehead. She froze in fear and raised her arms in surrender.

"Dad don't!" Sam screamed, trying to get free of Kali's grip.

"I wouldn't do that papa bear." Kali raised Sam's arm up near her canines, "How would you like a werewolf for a son?"

"I know you don't understand this Sammy, but it's for the best." Andrea said moving closer to Ilena.

"Just DON'T!" he was screaming desperately, still trying to pull away, "I'll do anything. I'll leave Tallahassee, I'll drop all contact with her. I'll kill every other wolf you ask, just not her."

His Dad cocked the gun, ignoring his son's pleas. With anger the other wolves raced forward to attack, knocking over Brian and snatching the gun away from his hand. Ilena raced free to come to Sam's side, as the sound of gun firing resumed.

"Get the ripper!" Andrea screamed at one of her partners, who threw her a large gun with a claw-like attachment on the end. Andrea caught it in her hands and aimed steadily.

Avery couldn't move. She couldn't speak as she saw what was about to happen. Her mother had the gun pointed at Ilena, who didn't notice because she was too caught up in getting to Sam's side. Sam caught sight of it too and screamed out once again, anger and desperation taking hold.

"ILENA MOVE!" he cried with all his might. But before anyone could do anything, Andrea had fired the gun. The claw raced through the air, intended for Ilena's heart. She turned around at the last second, only for a ripping noise to resonate from her chest cavity. With a clink the claw bounded away from her body, a bloody heart in it's grasp, leaving the she-wolf standing momentarily before collapsing to the ground.

"NO!" Sam gasped, as the energy in his body dropped. He went limp and couldn't breath, his vision was blurring under the disbelief. In the middle of the floor Ilena's body was spread out, with a giant hole where her heart once beat. She was dead. All the wolves in the place stopped in their places as the event took place, feeling as if their own soul had been ripped from them. One of their own was dead.

"What have you done?!" Kali cried with vengeance, staring at the hunter that was still in her arms. She glared with rage at his parents, before launching her mouth into his shoulder blade. She pulled back with sweet delight as he dropped the the floor. Sam had been bitten. Brian and Andrea felt their own breath slip away from them as Sam fell. For all intents and purposes their son had just died. Brian screamed and resumed shooting, missing every shot. Kali signalled the rest of her pack that they were getting out of there, which they hastily obeyed. They ran past Ilena's body and followed their Alpha into the night, they didn't have a chance to mourn.

Despite the excruciating pain coming from his shoulder, Sam crawled forward to reach Ilena's body. The rest of the hunters allowed themselves to rest, trying not to accept what had happened. Sam's whimpering was the only noise in the entire place. He pulled himself up to look at the expressionless face of the woman he loved. The tears were falling from his face as he propped her back up and held her in his arms. Whispering was the word 'no' over and over again. He was cupping her face in his hands hoping that she would just heal and things would be alright. But she wasn't healing and everyone knew it. Her brown eyes looked up lifelessly, almost like she was watching him. Again, the 'no's' continued until Avery gained the confidence to walk up to her brother and place her hand on his shoulder.

"She's gone Sam. She's gone." she knelt down to his level as he shook his head.

"She's not. She'll heal. Just get me her heart, we'll put it back and her body will fix itself." he wailed, his hands trembling.

"Sam. Stop." she had to pull him back as he went to fetch the organ.

"She can't be." he looked into his sisters eyes, red with pain, "She..." he couldn't string a sentence together and fell into Avery's arms. She could feel tears welling up in her own eyes at the sight of him. He just stood there, slung over his sister and cried. They could have been there for hours before Brian and Andrea dismissed their partners. They stayed to talk things over with the vessel that used to be their son and their confused daughter.

"We need to get him home." Brian said after Sam had finally stopped crying, only because he had run out tears. Avery looked up at her father with disgust.

"Fuck off." she shouted at him, "How dare you."

"Avery, dear." Andrea tried to play peace maker.

"No, you get lost too. None of this was necessary." Avery gestured as Sam resumed holding Ilena in his arms, "Are you happy now? You killed her. You didn't stop and think that maybe for a second that she wasn't the bad guy in this."

"She's a wolf, of course she was." Brian shouted angrily at his daughter, enraged by her insolence.

"You used me to make this happen. She was good, I only spent an hour with her to know that. The only crime she was guilty of was being too infatuated with 'the enemy'."

"You're too young to understand." Andrea snapped. Avery bit her bottom lip to stop herself from slapping her mother across the face.

"Get out of here." she grumbled, refusing to make eye contact with them.

"Fine, but as a Venator you know what your duty is now." Brian held out his gun to his daughter. She shook her head and backed away.

"Regardless of your view on this night, it is still our code. If a hunter gets bitten we must stop ourselves from turning into a monster." Brian pushed it towards her again. With shaky hands she took it, glancing back at her brother.

"We're giving you a chance to make this as painless as it needs to be for him. Show him mercy. Do it before the next full moon." Andrea placed her hand on Avery's shoulder.

"And if I don't?" she glared up at them. They looked down at the dead body of Ilena and back to their own daughter.

"Then you know what will happen." Brian said coldly and took Andrea to leave.

Avery had sat watching her brother as he fell asleep with Ilena in his arms. She had the wolfsbane laced gun in her own. Her mind was ticking over what was the best thing to do.

As much as she hated her parents right now, they were right. It was the code that any bitten hunter took the noble option and took their own life before coming what they killed. Sam may not have been the most loyal hunter at this point, but he still would have wanted death. While he had loved a wolf, he wouldn't love the idea of being one. But Avery wanted to be selfish this one time. The full moon wouldn't be back for at least another month. There could be time to help him learn control? She could hunt down Kali and force her to help him. Or she could chain him up herself and sedate him with a small amount of wolfsbane.

She kept thinking of ways around it. He was her brother, her closest friend. She wouldn't allow him to go through with it, to end his life. She didn't care if it wasn't what he wanted. She didn't care if he thought it would bring him to Ilena. She didn't want to lose him.

As daylight began to peak through the dirty windows of the warehouse, she stared over at her waking brother. With the gun in her hand, she got to her feet. This was her moment of judgement.


	6. Chapter 6

_Authors Note:_

I'm not sure why, but last chapter (chp 5) didn't go to the front page when updated so despite the fact that it was an important chapter there was very little traffic. No matter. Anyways I'm starting to get busy at school so I've had to write up a plan for all the chapters leading up into season 3. I have at least another twenty so far. I know this chapter's short but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. I'm super excited about tomorrow's episode.

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**Chapter Six: Now We Run**

"Sam, show me your shoulder." Avery walked closer to him. He looked up at her to see the gun shaking in her hand.

"I know what you're trying to do." he said to her, moving Ilena's body off him. His clothes were stained with her blood, "I may have been sad last night, but I wasn't deaf."

"I don't want to do this, but I don't have a choice." Avery swallowed down her emotions. She had to be like a rock. Solid and unmoving in her decision.

"You, more than anyone I know, always have a choice." Sam moved towards her. When they were standing inches apart, he pulled the gun up to his chest with her hand on the trigger. She wasn't sure what he wanted her to do.

"Do what you have to do." he nodded, closing his eyes. Avery couldn't hold back her tears, as she clasped the gun with two hands. It was almost like having two hands on it would make her choice easier. It didn't.

"I can't." she exhaled deeply and stepped away from him, sniffling.

"I don't want this." Sam looked at her imploringly, she could see that he didn't want this curse.

"But I can't let you die either. I can't let our parents win."

"Then what?" Sam was exhausted, his shoulders slumping. Could this all just end?

"We run. We clear our bank accounts out, get new names and move somewhere else. Or we find Kali and ask her to help us."

"I am not going anywhere near her." Sam shook his head, his blood boiling. Ilena may have still been alive if she had let them run in and stand in front of the gun fire.

"You know as well as I do that Omega's don't last long." she crossed her arms.

"I'm not alone, I've got you."

"But I'm not a wolf." she frowned, "And if I'm going to learn how to take care of you like this, I'm going to need some help." Avery smiled sadly and hugged her brother. He dropped his gaze onto his little sister and hugged her back. They may both have been terrified about the future, but together they had a better chance of outrunning their parents.

"First off, I'm getting rid of this." Avery pulled the necklace off herself and threw it to the ground. She held her foot high in the air, bringing it down to crushed the jewellery underneath.

"You should have kept it." Sam chuckled slightly.

"To be honest, I don't want to wear our family crest ever again. Not after—,"Avery bowed her head as Sam held his finger to her lips.

"Our parents disgraced that crest, not us. You shouldn't want to deny your heritage because of them. They're the ones not worthy to wear it." he said. She looked down at it, in thought of what he had said and nodded.

"The Venators, aside from being hunters, are noble men and women who fight for the greater good. In your heart I know that's what you strive for."

"Yeah, well Ventor is latin for Hunter so that's only half true." she frowned and walked away from him.

"So... we have to find Kali." he cleared his throat.

xxxx

Avery stood in the middle of Sam's apartment as he packed the last of their bags. She watched him walking frantically back and forth, still in his bloodied shirt. Every time he turned around, she found her eyes drawn back to the bite marks through the shoulder of his shirt. There was no mark there anymore.

Last night was such a crazy haze of events. She could hardly believe any of it had happened. One minute she was trying to work out whether or not she liked Ilena and the next she was racing for her life. It was clear, as the light of day, that Sam was avoiding the issue. He had claimed that last night he had shed his tears for the love of his live, but Avery knew her brother better. When they were younger, he was terrible with saying goodbye to friends who continued to live, whenever they moved towns. If his actions had been any indication, he truly was in love with Ilena. The simple fact that he flew his sister to meet her, because he was so sure that her wolfy-ness was something they could overcome and that he was willing to sacrifice everything to make their relationship work, had to mean more than a one night crying session.

It wasn't even the fact that Ilena was dead that got under Avery's skin, it was the way in which it happened. Avery didn't want to come off as a bitch, but she was a virtual stranger to Ilena. They had the potential to create a friendship, but she didn't know her well enough to grieve. She was more empathizing with her brother and the incredibly inhuman and unnecessary death that befell her. They had left Ilena's body back at the warehouse, tipping off the police about her whereabouts so that her family would be able to collect her body and properly bury her. Sam hadn't even said a final goodbye, the years of leaving people had made him hard.

"Done." Sam smiled weakly, lifting up their bags. Avery had cut down most of her clothes and stuck to simple jeans, a few shirts and jumpers, plus underwear. She had ditched most of her shoes and kept her boots that she was wearing now. They would have to do her. Sam had a similar amount of clothing packed. They would be living out of a backpack for a while now.

"So any wolf senses telling you where Kali might be?" Avery lifted her own bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah. She was headed back towards California." he said blatantly, Avery was confused.

"How do you—?" she went to ask, as he pulled a phone from his pocket. He pressed a few buttons before showing the text that he had obviously sent to the Alpha.

**_I need to know how to control this. Where's your pack. Please help me for Ilena's sake - Sam_**

_**We're headed towards California. If you want our help you're going to have to find us on your own - K**_

"Do you think that she'll wait up?"

"I wouldn't count on it, but I think we're best to head that way as well." Sam put the phone away.

"You realise that Mum and Dad are going to be in California." she bit her lip. Sam nodded and lifted up his own bag.

"We need Kali and if her pack's going that way then so be it. I'll be stronger in a pack anyway. Like you said, Omega's never last long." heading towards the door, he took one last look at the place he had called home and left, his sister trailing meagerly behind.

They caught the first bus out of town, headed across the country. Kali wouldn't have had too much of a head start on them. In three to four days time they would be in California and on their way to finding a pack for Sam. All they had to do was pray that no harm would come to them once they were there.


	7. Chapter 7

_Authors Note:_

It's been a while... I've been sitting down and working out a plan of action. I completely wrote a plan up until the season 3a finale which was fabulous by the way. I almost died when (SPOILERS)... Jennifer snapped the twins necks, but all was well. I've got a great story planned out for Sam and Avery, don't fret, they'll be running into a certain ex-alpha soon! *COUGHS* Derek. So enjoy this chapter, it's a little bit short :P

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**Chapter Seven: Part of Your World**

It seemed all they had done recently, was run. Run after and away from people. But for once, they didn't have to. They'd managed to catch up to Kali's pack on the border of Nevada, although it hadn't been on the friendliest of terms.

Her pack was all with her, there was seven of them in total. They were circling the brother and sister duo, ready to tear their throats out.

"You think that I wanted to kill the love of my life?" Sam shouted as Kali growled.

"Not at all. Your sister on the other hand I don't trust." Kali had her bare feet brushing the dusty ground, sharpened toenails exposed.

"She has no blame in this. You on the other hand have thrust this curse on me. Your my Alpha." he shouted back.

"You want to join my pack?" Kali looked taken back.

"Yes. That's why we went in search of you." Avery piped up.

"What makes you think that I'll want you?" Kali crossed her arms, challenging them to prove their case.

"You knew, deep down, that they were going to kill her. I think instinctively you bit me because you needed a replacement."

"I bit you as my revenge against your parents." she corrected him.

"Either way, I need your help to learn to control it." Sam moved away from his sister and honestly faced Kali. As much as he hated asking for her help in all of this, she was invaluable to their cause. He doubted that Avery would be able to do more than chain him up on the night of the full moon, and maybe jab him with a few electrical shocks. If he broke free, he would undoubtedly kill his sister. He already lost one important girl in his life and he wasn't ready to lose another.

"First off, it's not like a light switch. You can't just turn it on and off as you please. If I teach you to gain control over the wolf, every full moon you'll still be in excruciating pain. You'll just be able to hide it better and not threaten to kill anyone in your sight."

"I'm accustom to pain." Sam shrugged.

"I think we should vote." piped up the Beta called Jarred.

"This is not a democracy Jarred." Kali moved her gaze away from Sam.

"Well it should be." Jarred moved forwards, chest forward defensively, "For all we know they completely set up Ilena's death. He could have faked his tears. Now they've come back on their parents orders to finish the rest of us off."

"I doubt that." Kali pushed the Beta to the ground. He scowled back at her, his eyes glowing gold.

"They would have offed him by now. Especially their family." Kali stared back at the Venators, "Actually how are you still alive. Isn't their some kind of code?"

"There is, we're just choosing to ignore it." Avery moved to her brother side and clasped his hand in support, "I'm not giving up on him yet."

"Forgive me if I don't trust your word on it." Kali helped Jarred to his feet, he rudely brushed her off and returned to his spot in the circle.

"I wouldn't expect you to. What we're asking is a long stretch. Especially with our families past. But I'm hoping you can see past that and be the better wolf." Avery spoke. Kali stared past them for a moment, like she was looking at a ghost.

"Do what Ilena would have done." Sam said softly. That seemed to satisfy Kali, who nodded and signaled for her pack to start setting up camp.

"We're camping here for the night. It's gonna get chilly so you better have some blankets." she started to set up her own tent, "We're on our way to meet a friend in a week. Be up at six am sharp or we'll leave you behind."

xxxx

A campfire was crackling in between them, they were separate to the rest of Kali's pack. Off to the side, with only each others company to pass the time.

"You know. I think she likes me." Sam smiled, pulling his sister closer. He already was much warmer than what he had been as a human. His skin was toasty to the touch. Avery almost didn't need a blanket until the cold change came through.

"Who? Kali?" Avery frowned, as if her brother was crazy.

"Yeah. I feel like we have great sarcastic banter at times." he nudged her, clearly joking. He had her worried for a second.

"I think we've done well, all things considered." he continued as the fire proceeded to lick the air. It was enchanting to watch.

"Don't get to ahead of yourself." Avery stared at the fire too.

"I'm not. I'm just..." he paused and looked down. "I'm just glad that it's you by my side. I couldn't think of things any other way."

Avery smiled and dug herself further into his arms, he responded by holding her tighter. In front of their little fire, away from the rest of the pack, things indeed looked brighter.

Neither of them would ever admit it, but they were both terrified of the future. It held mysteries that they wished they already had answers too. Whether they had good or bad luck on their side, hindsight was the greatest gift anyone could give them at this time. When a finger tapped them both on the shoulder, though, they almost jumped out of their skin.

"Sorry." said a woman's voice as the light caught her face. She smiled and held out a bowl of food for each of them, "I thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks." Sam smiled and happily took the food form her. She hadn't been one of Kali's pack, she must have only just arrived. The lady nodded and went to leave.

"Wait. Stay." Avery asked her, already with a mouthful of soup. The girl looked uncertain, like she really should be getting back.

"We don't bite. The bitting's all Kali." Sam joked. The girl nodded and sat down across from them.

"What's your name?" Avery questioned.

"Julia."

"I had a lizard named Julia once!" Avery beamed, "Although it escaped from it's tank and I never saw it again."

"Not that you look like a lizard." Sam corrected his sister, hoping Julia didn't think that they were rude.

"Oh no! Not at all. You're very human looking." Avert nodded.

"Thanks." Julia smiled softly, she found these two very odd.

"So... are you a wolf too?" Avery put her bowl on the ground, licking the spoon. She had been starving!

"No. I'm the pack's emissary." she said, quite proudly.

"Did you know Ilena?" Sam jumped in. Julia lowered her gaze to the fire and nodded.

"She was a good friend. A great ally." she stated. Sam breathed heavily.

"How long did you know her?"

"Since I took on the role of emissary, ten years ago. We were teenagers."

"She was great, wasn't she." Sam said rhetorically, copying Julia and staring into the fire. Julia nodded, she had known what this guy had done to her friends life, she didn't hate him, but she somewhat blamed him.

"Well..." Avery yawned, noticing the tension, "I need to sleep."

"I should be off too. Kali needed to speak to me." Julia got to her feet. Before they could stop her she was already off.

"See you tomorrow Julia." Avery called out into the night. There was no response, "She seems nice."

"_I had a lizard named Julia once_?" Sam looked at her instantly, annoyed, "Of all the conversation starters you went with that one?"

"My brain froze." Avery winced.

"Well unfreeze it, we're already skating on thin ice as it is. You don't want to piss off their emissary in case she advises them to boot us or worse."

"She didn't look like the kind of person that would hold a vendetta against likening her to a lizard." Avery argued. Sam frowned and let go of her, she shivered in the cold.

"You're going to punish me?" she scoffed, "What am I, like five?"

"No..." Sam was trying hard to appear angry, he really wasn't. "You're just going to need to have a lot of blankets tonight."

"I'll freeze to death." She whined, mouth open wide.

"Fine." Sam sighed. He got down onto the ground and laid out, holding out his arm for his sister. Avery mocked him by getting up childishly and plonking herself down beside him. He breathed a little laugh and hugged her tightly. Her eyes shut and within minutes she was out. Sam was still wide awake, staring out at the stars. He had tried to count them all, often forgetting what number he had been up to, as his mind drifted to other thoughts.

Something was wrong and he could feel it. In his gut he knew that this safety they had tonight wouldn't last. It couldn't. But it wasn't Kali's pack or the thought of their parents coming after them that worried him, there was a deeper sense of unease at heart. He had never experienced anything like this transition, but he had learnt enough to know what abilities werewolves had. He already had inklings of heightened hearing, strength and healing. He even felt his body temperature rise, obviously with Avery wanting to use him as a human blanket. But there was one thing he knew was wrong. Being with Kali, he should have started to feel some kind of familial bond to the pack, a sense of trust and friendship. Wolf packs have a mystical unspoken bond with one another. Deep down he didn't feel that connection, he didn't feel that allegiance. He thought it best to brush away that thought. In time he would probably build the relationship up, but for now, the only person he felt a connection with was his sister. She was the only one he could trust. The only one to help him control this monster within.


	8. Chapter 8

_Authors Note:_

So I'm really happy with how the story is progressing now. I got a review asking is Julia/Jennifer was still around the same age as Derek in this fanfic, and the answer is yes. I should have cleared up earlier that I have changed the timelines a little, so it's slight AU. Sam is around 25/26, if I've done my math correct. Same as Derek. I don't know if that's canon, but it seems about right, especially since Jeff Davis said that was a little older than everyone originally thought. Avery (from the first chapter) is 20. Originally Kali left Julia/Jennifer to die when Derek killed Paige. In this fic that is not the case. That whole issue of Kali killing people to join the Alpha pack is going to come up very soon. It is all important later on. But I hope you enjoy some _interesting _revelations that this chapter brings. Enjoy.

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**Chapter Eight: I Swear If We Have To Run Again.**

A clawed hand came down onto the sleeping siblings. It ripped Avery from Sam, tripping over the charcoaled wood that had been burning the night before. They woke up startled and began to follow without dispute. Kali and another one of the other female wolves were dragging them forward, as if someone was coming after them. They hadn't had a change to ask what was going on, although it seemed that someone or something seemed to be following.

The sun had only just began to peak up from behind a mountain. They must have already crossed the boarders of Nevada before and were now somewhere on the edges of Death Valley National Park. The cry dirt under their feet was squeaking as Kali and her she-wolf pulled ahead. Avery was finding it hard to keep up to the same pace as them, so Sam had slowed down a little, to try and pull her along.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted, dazed and confused.

"Hunters." replied the beta wolf.

"Is it—," Avery went to ask as Kali cut her off.

"Yeah. It's them." she looked back at the two then glanced sideways to the beta. By them, she meant their parents. With that Avery stopped dead in her tracks, confusing the rest of them even more. Sam had to double take and tried to pull her on again.

"What are you doing?" Sam shouted, yanking her arm. She refused to budge.

"She's lying." Avery stated as Kali came back by their side. Kali was trying to look scared, but she wasn't a very good liar. Avery knew that her parents had _promised_ her until the next full moon and if the Venator's were anything, it was honorable.

"Come on!" Sam pulled at her again, being forceful this time. Kali placed one hand on his shoulder to stop him from running.

"Your sister is much more agile than you." she said as a smug grin consumed her face. Sam stepped back and frowned.

"What is really going on?" he let go of Avery and crossed his arms as Jarred and three other wolves came running over the hill laughing, guns in their hands.

"Initiation of sorts. We like to test all our newbies." Kali toyed, "Most of them catch on pretty quickly."

"You are perhaps the slowest one to work it out. Actually you didn't." the female beta wolf stepped forward, laughing too, "You're human sister did."

"What did you hope to gain by this?" Sam asked, his voice had an annoyed tone in it.

"Just to see how you would fare in a real attack." Kali turned her head to the side walking around her new pack member, "You can run, that's for sure."

"Yeah but what's up with his sense of smell?" Jarred frowned, pocketing the gun, "I was slow to catch on, when it was me, but I worked out your scent soon enough."

"Everyone is an individual." Kali shrugged, she didn't want to put to much focus on the negatives. This had all been a very fun game for her.

"Spar him." piped up a tall looking wolf, he had his teeth bared and his eyes bright blue. Avery cringed when she saw him. Had she come across that specific wolf in another content she would have offed him the second she got the chance. Blue eyed wolves had killed innocents. While she could accept her brother, it was because he had not killed innocents. He himself was still innocent... kind of.

"Back off." Avery stepped near him, although he towered over her. He cracked his neck and knuckles, chuckling through a growl. With a simple arm movement, he had knocked her to the ground and lurched forward to meet Sam. Kali threw him back and growled.

"I'll do the honours." she laughed as a circle formed around the two. Sam growled himself, although his growl was not nearly as terrifying as Kali's. Avery got to her feet but was held back by Jarred. Kali, with claws extended, slashed at Sam. He jumped backwards and eyed her off. Kali was wolfed out, red eyes shining brightly and facial features far more prominent. Sam on the other hand was still in his human form, working out a plan of attack. He knew this encounter wouldn't be life threatening but he couldn't help but want to come off best, even if Kali was an Alpha. He had been far too mesmerized by Kali that he had stopped paying attention to his sister. Not that anyone would blame him, the other wolves aside from the tall one and Jarred had been captivated too. While the rest of them jeered, Jarred and the tall wolf had dragged Avery down behind a mound.

"I don't like either of you being here. If I was Alpha, I would have never let you two here. You would have been killed on sight." Jarred mocked, stroking his hand down her cheek while the taller one laughed and cover her mouth and restricted her hands behind her back. His hand traced down her scar as he stopped to look into her very human eyes. His own gold ones stared intensely back.

"Had your parents not killed Ilena I probably would have taken a liking to you." he moved his hand from her face. She struggled against her captors, fearing for her life if she couldn't get out of this.

Meanwhile, Sam was still circling Kali. He had been dodging her attacks quite skillfully, but that was more the hunter in him than the wolf. He was having trouble with that side of him, the wolf. He hadn't bee 100% sure, but wolves usually changed due to stress or anger. If you raised their blood pressure high enough they would crack and change. His heart was beating strong enough and his survival instincts had kicked in, that by now he should have shifted. He couldn't afford to be worrying about this kind of stuff when his life was in danger.

"Stop dodging. Hurry up and fight!" shouted the female beta. Sam grit his teeth and momentarily glanced her direction. Something sunk in his gut as he realise two wolves and his sister was missing. At once, he knew what was happening. Whether Kali knew it or not, those other two were doing something to his sister that most likely threatened her life. His senses kicked into play as he let out a giant roar. He could feel himself shift into wolf form. From there he lost himself, as if his sister were whispering in his ear to come and help her. Kali gasped as he charged at her, throwing her to the ground.

"I always liked girls with a little bit of fight in them." Jarred continued to toy with Avery.

"Makes it fun when you rip their throats out." the tall one chuckled. Avery gulped as she felt Jarred's hand brush her open skin on her neck. He could feel her heart rate elevate and laughed himself.

"I have a better idea. Why don't I just bite you and then leave the rest up to Kali. She could save you or she could let you be a punishment for your dumbass brother." his said as his canines grew in front of her. She closed her eyes, wishing Sam would just come and help her, as a ear splitting growl filled the air. But it wasn't Jarred's or even the tall wolf's. It was coming from back where Sam had been fighting Kali. There was another growl in return as she felt a thud beneath her feet, something was coming this way. Feet were making their way to her side, quite heavily, until Jarred and the tall wolf no longer were near her. Avery opened her eyes just a tad to see a hissing figure in front of her. It wasn't a werewolf.

The sun had risen now and standing before her was a male cat of some kind, but it look half human. From the back she could see it's ears were pointed and furry. There was patches of skin the blended into spotted fur. It had claws similar to a wolf's, only they came to a sharper point. Then there was the tail... She stood their gawping as it stood before her, almost protecting her from harm. She hoped to God that when it turned around it wouldn't be who she thought. But her well wishes had been for nothing, as it did turn to face her once the other two had run off.

"Are you okay?" he spoke, mouth full of sharp teeth. More of the spotted fur was up his's cheekbones and temples, into his hairline.

"I'll be fine." she held her breath, staring. It was like he didn't realise what was going on. He just stood blankly at her.

"Sam?" Avery said softly, which snapped him out of a trance. He shifted back into a human form as Kali and her pack came around to meet them.

"What the hell was that?" she screamed, utterly enraged.

"A Kanima." said a soft voice. Coming up, in the other direction, was a placid Julia. She had Avery and Sam's bags with her.

"What's that?" Kali asked, with the same enraged tone.

"In south american shape shifter law the Kanima is otherwise known as a Werejaguar." she dropped the bags at her feet, "And it would appear that he was protecting his master."

"Me?" Avery breathed out, gripping her brothers hand. He had no idea what was going on.

"How did I get over here?" he said, as Kali went to shout again. She stopped and paused in thought.

"Tell him." Kali shrugged, with spite behind her words. Her shoulder still hurt from where he had taken her down, although she would never admit it.

"You're not a wolf." Avery put it simply.

"So I'm what then? Immune?" he almost had hope. Avery shook her head, she already knew what a Kanima was. It had been inside her bestiary she received on her sixteenth birthday, she'd even had the odd encounter once before.

"No... You remember that time Mum and Dad moved us down to Mexico because their was another creature like a wolf, that was killing people." she asked. He nodded in response, "They called it a Kanima."

"Were-jaguar." his heart sunk, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"The guy didn't even realise what he was. He blanked out a lot like what you just did, after being... in cat form." she found it hard to speak the words out loud. He let out a deep breath and tried to process what was happening.

"He's strong. That's no doubt." the female beta spoke, "He took Kali down with ease."

"I was off guard when he turned into a giant cat." Kali frowned, glaring at her beta to be silent.

"Either way, as the Alpha it's your decision what to do now." Julia walked over to the Alpha's side. Kali crossed her arms and eyed the two off.

"They can stay." she finally replied, "We've still got to meet Deucalion in Beacon Hills."

"Wait what?" Avery said, more stunned at where they were going than the fact they were allowed to stay.

"I told you before. We needed to meet a friend. We'll get through the park and then we'll be just on the outskirts of Beacon Hills."

"That's a little close to Bellevue don't you think?" Sam added, Kali really didn't care.

"It's what I like to call hiding in plain sight." she stated. "Your mummy and daddy will assume that you've fled across the country, probably as far away as possible. Right?"

Avery and Sam nodded, realising that she was right. Although it still didn't make it any less dangerous if they were spotted.

"Then hiding right under their noses seems logical. They'll assume the best of you, that you'd be good at hiding. By now, they probably think you've escaped to South America."

"Who's Deucalion then?" Sam questioned.

"A simple thanks for letting you stay in stay in our pack will suffice." Jarred grunted as he had joined them again. Kali looked straight at him with such fury, anyone would be surprised she didn't tear his throat out right then.

"You and Pascal are the biggest morons I have ever met." she scolded as they rubbed their sides. As beta's, Sam's attack would have taken a bigger toll than what it did to Kali, "They're part of the pack on my orders. You touch either one of them again and I will personally tears you limb from limb, chop you into little pieces and send what's left of you as a present to a hunter of their choice. Understood?"

"Understood..." Jarred and Pascal grumbled.

"I can't hear you." Kali shouted, even though she could have heard them whisper from a mile away.

"Understood!" the both said loudly, standing to attention.

"Good. We're moving on. We've got a big trek ahead of us." Kali pointed forward, "Oh and Jarred. Because you have so much respect for our pack, you can carry Julia on your back for the whole day."

"Oh that's not—," Julia went to say, Kali held a finger to silence her.

"We need to teach the runts respect. Pascal, you can carry Avery."

"I'd really rather stay away from him." Avery spoke.

"Humans are slow. You don't have the same endurance. We have a lot of ground to cover and if you're on our backs well be able to make our goal for today. That's final." Kali said, and the conversation was done. Reluctantly, Avery let Pascal lift her onto his back, Sam keeping watch the whole time. At least they weren't running there!


	9. Chapter 9

_Authors Note:_

As I kind of noted in the previous chapter, I know that there will be some continuity errors with my story. In the show Julia receives her powers from the Nemeton the a couple of months after Derek kills Paige. Obviously in my story's continuity, Kali is only just joining the Alpha pack so that throws that out of sync. But I hope it's an error you can let slide over your head. It becomes important later down the line in season 3 for my own story. It's all planned out. Thanks for the ongoing support, I'd love to hear some constructive criticism if you have any.

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**Chapter Nine: Issues With Blind Men.**

"Go boy! Go!" Avery laughed as Pascal heaved them up a hill. Sam was smirking behind them. There were beads of sweat dripping from Pascal's forehead, until finally they reached the top of the hill and he dropped Avery straight to the ground. Her fun and games were over now. Sam walked straight to her side and pulled her to her feet, giving Pascal an unimpressed glare. Neither of them said anything though, not wanting to start a fight.

"We make camp here." Kali exhaled after doing a small survey of the area they were in. It was right where she needed them to be. Jarred came over the hill with Julia who he placed much more gracefully on the ground

"Thank you." Julia smiled at Jarred as she went to Kali's side, "Deucalion will be waiting."

"I know." Kali nodded and looked at her pack who was starting to set up their sleeping arrangements. Pascal had started to collect fire wood. The female beta, who's name was Lila, has by his side. Jarred was helping another male beta drag a log over to sit on when the fire was made. The rest of the pack were off looking for water.

"I need to leave. While I'm gone Julia's in charge. Remember, any of you lay a finger on the newbies you'll have me to deal with." Kali ordered, her wolves obliged. Straight away she raced off through the woods, barely making a noise.

"So Jules." Jarred waltz forward, "Are you going to tell us why she dragged our butts across the country to meet with Deucalion?"

"You want the honest truth?" Julia sat down on the log he had dragged over, "No idea. She hasn't said a word to me."

"Oooh." Lila chuckled eerily, dropping a pile of sticks at her feet, "If Julia doesn't know it's gotta be big!"

"What do ya reckon she's up to?" Pascal added some more sticks to the pile.

"Maybe she's secretly in loooove!" Jarred mocked, "Her and Deucalion always seemed close."

"No way!" Lila shook her head, "If Kali's got the hots for anyone it's that Alpha Ennis."

"Care to share who this Deucalion dude is?" Avery asked, taking her bag off and digging around for a granola bar.

"He's another Alpha." Lila said.

"Wow very explanatory." Avery rolled her eyes and sat at the other end of the log to Julia.

"He's an old friend, who just happens to be an Alpha." Julia filled Avery in, "This pack and his have been allies for a long time. Since the Argent attack ten years ago. I'm sure you know who they are."

"Yeah. I do." Avery said, "What attack?"

"A bunch of wolf packs met up at the Beacon Hills Distillery. They had called the Argents to request a truce on all the fighting. Only Gerard Argent had other plans and set a trap for Deucalion who promised to meet them." Jarred explained.

"Gerard dug two arrows into his eyes and blinded him. Now I suppose he's called Kali for some kind of revenge attack. It's always been on the cards." Julia finished.

"And you'll condone that?" Avery questioned, shouldn't emissaries want to stop war between wolves?

"I'd rather that, than them go after each other or innocents." she said with a shrug. Avery went to protest as Julia sighed.

"You weren't there. You didn't see what they did. It's taken Kali this long to be confident out in the open. For a long time she hid underground to avoid being hunted by the Argents and your family." Julia added at the end. Avery kept her mouth shut, got up and walked away. She could sense the pain behind Julia's words and decided not to push her luck. It had been a long day for everyone.

A little bit further away from camp Avery sat with Sam, under tree cover, as the sun began to set.

"How you feeling?" she asked, looking to the horizon.

"About what exactly? Because I'm feeling a lot of things right now." he replied, his mind ticking over.

"Being a cat." she cleared up.

"I'm not sure. I suppose it's a good thing. The were-jaguar can be controlled and it means I won't go crazy on a full moon and try to kill you." he laid back into the damp leaves that covered the forest floor, "To be honest, I was more worried about you."

"Me?" Avery asked, not knowing what he meant.

"You're the one _in_ control. Julia said you were my master."

"Oh..." she let out a weak chuckle, "I hadn't really thought much of it."

"Do you think that if you told Mum and Dad they'd be happier to accept me?"

"I wish I could say yes." Avery groaned, "But I think it'll only solidify their quest to kill you."

"Yeah." he said simply, down-heartened by his sisters response. Unfortunately she would be right. Despite the fact that now he wouldn't feel the urge to kill people, because Avery could stop him, they would still see him as unnatural. He still had claws and fangs. He was still incredibly strong. He still wasn't human.

"What do you really think Kali's up to?" Avery asked.

"I'm not sure, but I don't like it." Sam replied.

"We should follow her." Avery got to her feet. "I hate not seeing a whole picture."

"She'll smell us." Sam shook his head, getting up too. But Avery knew better, she held his shoulders and smiled as she explained her realisation.

"The guy down in Mexico, couldn't be tracked by scent. Kanima's don't have a distinct smell, that's why Kali couldn't pick up what you were straight away. Why no one could unless you showed yourself visually."

"I'm not leaving you here alone." Sam objected. Avery sighed, she didn't need his consent on this.

"I'm not asking you, Sam." she looked him down, "I'm telling you."

"Don't do this Avy." his eyes pleaded, but she had already made up her mind. She looked away from him when his eyes glowed yellow. It was if he was in a trance, when she sent him on his way.

"I've gotta go and find out what this Deucalion and Kali are up to. Don't worry, you'll be perfectly fine." he smiled falsely and ran off into the cover of the trees. He had basically mimicked Avery's train of thought. She was quite disgusted at what she had just made her brother do. If she knew correct information about the Kanima, she didn't have to be there to know what was going on. She would learn it all through her dear brother. But it didn't make the guilt in her stomach go away. They were going to have a heated discussion about this once he was back in human form, she was not looking forward to it at all.

xxxx

Sam had been crouched, hiding behind a wall as Kali met up with the mysterious Deucalion. He had tracked her scent, as his primal instincts took over and all he wanted to do was please Avery's wishes. He had a goal set by her, to find out whatever these two were up to and make sure he didn't get caught in the process.

He was silent and calculated, not moving a muscle. He was shifted into jaguar form but the two on the other wall wouldn't have the slightest clue he was there, not even if they were actively searching for him.

"You've come alone." the man Deucalion spoke with a british accent, "Good."

"I've thought over your ultimatum." Kali stopped in front of him.

"And?" Deucalion asked, he sounded interested.

"I wasn't planning to come back. But after Ilena's death, I've become distanced to them all. Jarred has been trying to challenge my authority and now he's convinced Pascal to defy my every command. Lila seems to be conflicted too. The rest are waiting to follow him if he makes a move. They think I'm weak." Kali said with disgust in her voice.

"Then I will help you take them." Deucalion said, nodding, "It's much easier than you'd think."

"But there's another problem." Kali paused. In the shadows, Sam thought he had a feeling what she might say.

"Don't be afraid of their numbers, they'll only make you stronger in the end." Deucalion coaxed her.

"That's not it."

"Then what dear?"

"We've taken on two new members."

"That's great." Deucalion beamed.

"It's not. The two Venator kids came to me looking for help after I bit Sam. But he's not a wolf." Kali began to lose conviction in her voice, she was clearly nervous about the presence of the new members, "He's a Kanima."

"How rare..." Deucalion's face lit up in a smile.

"His sister is his master, I've kept them around because I thought they might be of use."

"Good thinking my dear." Deucalion was nodding with glee, "I'll take care of the sister. Kill her. Then we can bring Sam into the fold."

"What? Why?" Kali was dumbfounded, "I thought you wanted to build an Alpha pack."

"I do... did you know that Kanima's have an Alpha form too?" he moved closer to his friend, holding out his arm so they could walk forward, "Well they do. And if you know anything of their strength as a Beta, you'd know how fierce they are as Alphas. If I kill his master and take her place, we can level him up so to speak. He'll be a great addition to the pack."

"How do you turn them?" Kali sounded intrigued.

"I'll tell you all in good time." Deucalion laughed, patting her arm, "You better get back to your pack before they get suspicious."

"Alright." Kali nodded and let go of his arm, "Make sure you convince Ennis to join us. You know how attached he can be to his pack."

"Ennis is not the problem. Just deal with your pack and then we'll move onto the next issue." Deucalion stated clearly, he didn't want any confusion. Kali went to walk away when he reminded her of one final thing.

"The emissary goes too."

The entire time, Avery had heard what Sam had. She was frightened to the core. Instantly she called Sam back to her side. It was dark out and she was making sure that their bags were packed so that as soon as her brother was back at camp, they would leave. Everything she had heard made sense, why Kali had kept them around. Even when she didn't know about Sam's true nature, she had still intended to kill Sam so she could join some Alpha pack. Avery was rushing around so frantically to pack that she hadn't noticed Julia come down to meet her with another bowl of soup.

"What are you packing up for?" she questioned, startling Avery half out of her boots. Avery stared at the innocent emissary remembering what she had heard through Sam. She may not have known Julia that well, but she didn't wish her dead.

"Sam and I are getting out of here." she shoved one last thing in her bag and moved up to Julia's side, dropping the level of her voice, "I sent him to spy on Kali and she's up to something terrible."

"Kali wouldn't do anything bad." Julia tried to step away, but Avery grasped her wrist, causing her to drop the soup.

"Julia, she's going to kill you and the pack. It's some kind of power thing. If she kills you all she gains your strengths. Deucalion specifically stated for her to ensure that she killed the emissary. That's you."

"You're lying." Julia pried her hand away.

"While Kali's taking care of your pack, Deucalion is coming to kill me so he can control my brother. Why do you think I'm so eager to leave?" Avery threw her bag on her back, "I'm offering you to come with us. Run away before she can kill you."

"No. Stop it." Julia kept backing away.

"Julia. I want to help you. If I'm wrong then just come back and I'll apologise profusely, but why risk it?"

"Because I trust Kali. She wouldn't hurt her pack. She wouldn't hurt me." Julia scowled, "You can run, you can leave. I'm going to stay and put faith in my friend."

"Julia..." Avery went to continue, but Julia had already run off back towards the pack. Avery let out a heavy sigh and started to move onwards, feeling Sam drawing closer. She really did wish she was wrong.

When they met, he had just begun to shift out of wolf form. He had been slightly aware of what was going on around him the whole time. He knew that something Kali was doing was bad and it threatened his sister's life.

"She's going to kill them all." Avery said as he was completely human and held her in a comforting hug, "I tried to warn Julia, but she didn't believe me. Kali and Deucalion want to kill the pack and take their strength. Then Deucalion wants to kill me, to have control of you."

"We have to warn them." Sam let go of her and tried to head back in the direction of camp. Avery tugged on his arm.

"We can't. Deucalion, he's not like normal wolves. He's different. I could feel it. If we try to fight he'll make Kali kill them all and then he'll kill me. You'll be a slave to someone who isn't concerned about your morals and wishes. He won't care like I do and he won't protect you."

"But what if we have a chance to save them?" Sam was torn.

"I promised you that I would take care of you and that's what I'm doing. We're going to see the next full moon together."

"You could really just leave them there?" Sam said exasperated, he was surprised at his sisters actions. He thought she was much braver than this.

"Yes." she dropped her gaze, disappointed in herself, "I'm not ready to die. I've still got a life ahead of me and so do you. You still have an opportunity for a family, a wife and children."

"If we can help then we must, no matter what the cost. They took us in at our most vulnerable. We should repay the favour." Sam rested his hand on his sister shoulder. She almost caved, until an shriek echoed through the woods. Growling soon followed and they knew what had begun. Avery started to shake her head and back away. Sam could see the fear growing in her eyes. She had no weapons to defend herself and if Sam left her side for one second she would be completely helpless at the mercy of two hellbent Alphas.

"I... I can't." she had frozen. Sam couldn't win on this one, the losses outweighed the positives. He nodded and walked in her direction.

"Get on." he said, turning around so she could get on his back, "We're going to Beacon Hills."

xxxx

Julia knew the other two were long gone by now. She stood amongst a field of the dead, covered in her and her pack's blood. Kali finally dispatched Jarred and moved forward towards her terrified emissary.

"You don't have to do this Kali." Julia pleaded, unable to back away further as she tripped over a gigantic tree stump, "We're friends."

"I know. But I'm making new ones." Kali said sinisterly before pouncing on Julia, slashing at her face. Kali stopped, she had severely injured Julia, tears running down her cheeks. She got to her feet and walked away, hoping that her friend could have a peaceful passing, not one where Kali's face was the last thing she saw before mauling her to pieces. This way Julia could die in a somewhat calm way. She would just bleed out and die of exhaustion.

Little did Kali know, this would not be the end for her druid friend.

"The Venator's are gone." Deucalion came to meet her, in his demon wolf form. Grey faced and terrifying.

"We go after them then." Kali suggested.

"No." Deucalion shook his head. "I have a feeling that out paths are destined to cross again. For now we need to rally Ennis' support."


	10. Chapter 10

_Authors Note:_

I don't know if any of you have realised, but I've actually been coming up with locations through copious use of google maps. I had heard the name Tallahassee a while ago and didn't know what it was (I'm Aussie). Then I mapped it, searched up the nearest forests, the crime rates and all this other meaningless crap because I could. I did the same for Death Valley, because it's almost on the border of Nevada and California. Honestly, this is the most research I've ever done for a story! I'm feeling pleased with that effort.

Oh, one last thing. Thank you to all the people that reviewed chapters 8 and 9 for me. Your words encourage me to write at my best and be confident in my writing skills. This ones a short chappie, but important nevertheless.

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**Chapter Ten: A Beacon of Hope.**

She had fallen asleep on his back, it was like they were children again. When Sam shook her gently she rubbed her eyes and jumped off of him. She knew exactly where they were. There may have been a lot of trees around them, but a familiar dirt path was on their right. She could smell the fresh airs of Beacon Hills, away from dampness of Death Valley. It was ironically named, especially noting the recent events. But it wasn't just the smell that was familiar. Up ahead there was a house, one she had visited many times as a child. It looked much different now to what it had in the past.

"Good thinking." Avery nodded at her brothers choice of hide away.

Despite most of what Kali had said had been lies, there was one thing that stuck with them. Hiding in plain sight. She was right that it would be terribly confusing for their enemies, because they were often overestimated due to their lineage. Right in front of them now, was a place no one would ever expect them to be. The burned down ruins of the Hale House. They walked up to the front door, Sam turning the handle. It swung open freely, he had doubted there'd be a lock on this place.

"Cosy." Avery stated walking around the creaking house. It was a mess. Broken furniture everywhere, charcoaled walls.

"It'll be good to hide out for now, until we can think of our next move." Sam said, starting to walk up the stairs. Avery followed him, wanting to see what had become of this place. A place that had once be a great source of happiness and joy.

"It's eerie being back here." Sam stated as they entered an upstairs bedroom, "I feel like there's still someone here."

"Can you sense Derek or Laura here?" Avery stopped dead in her tracks.

"No, not like that." Sam chuckled at her nervousness, "Like there's still spirits watching over."

"Do you think they're watching over us?" Avery moved to the window in the bedroom. It was smashed and broken. She stared out at the moon, it was about a week out from being full.

"Maybe." Sam replied, "I could just be letting my imagination wander though."

"Yeah." Avery walked away from the window. She leant against the bed, starring up at the ceiling. Sam joined her.

"It feels nice to be inside a house again." she curled into a ball, "Just to have a little bit of normal back."

"Except we've never really been normal, have we." Sam threw his arm around her.

"I've been better off than you." she laughed, sitting back.

"Harsh." he cringed, pretending to be cut.

"I was getting somewhere." Avery pouted, "I had the big dream in place. I was leaving behind the hunters life. I was doing what I wanted."

"This isn't about the gallery is it?" Sam moaned. This conversation had been one brought up a lot at family dinners usually ending in screaming matches.

Avery had moved to Bellevue two years back after receiving a large inheritance from her grandfather, who died while fighting wolves. She had bought her own apartment which she planned to use for her own endeavours away from hunting. From a young age, Avery had loved to draw. She had taken drawing lessons on top of her training. Brian and Andrea had thought she'd grow out of it, but her passion for art only grew. Every school they went to, art was a class that was always on the top of her list. After school she had planned to start up her own art gallery to showcase her works, much to the dismay of her parents. She had been very close to her grandfather, who believed much more in the way the Argents gave roles to their women. Their women were leaders not warriors. So he very much supported his granddaughters quest to find meaning away from the fighting.

"Yes it is." Avery stated proudly, "I was making things work too. I had a location, a few works under my belt and some interested buyers."

"I told you before that if you wanted my support you had it straight away." Sam said with open arms.

"Yeah, then everything changed." Avery sighed.

"I dragged you to Tallahassee." Sam's tone became more sombre. Avery didn't reply, "I don't blame you for being mad."

"I'm not mad at you. I prefer having you alive and by my side any day than a successful art gallery." she held his hand tightly to support him, "It's just I keep thinking about how my life could have gone differently."

"If things could have been simpler?" Sam inclined his head.

"Exactly." Avery said, "I think, now, things are going to get much easier. We're still on the run, but we don't have to worry about you wolfing out and killing someone. We got away from Kali and Deucalion without a scratch and now we're safely hiding from our parents. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close."

"About that." Sam suddenly sounded irked, "What you did back there, despite the fact that it probably saved our lives, I don't want you to ever do again."

"I thought you might say that." Avery grumbled.

"I mean it. You said you weren't a child so don't act like one when you don't get your own way."

"I didn't do it because I was being immature. You heard the rest of them say that if Julia didn't know what Kali was up to, it would be bad news."

"We need to be clear that just because you're the Kanima's master, you're not mine. I'm still my own person." Sam insisted. Avery scratched the floor back and forth with her finger, biting her lip. She really was apologetic.

"Sorry." she whispered, swallowing her guilt, "I didn't do because I wanted to control you though. I just wanted to look out for our safety."

"Well, next time let's make it a joint agreement." Sam got to his feet and went to stalk out of the room, "I'm going to keep watch in case this place isn't so deserted. Tomorrow we need to find the local arms dealers and stock up. But for now, rest."


	11. Chapter 11

_Authors Note:_

Thanks to all my new followers and reviewers. I'm a little bit unsure of this next chapter. Sometimes I find it hard to write canon characters but let's hope for the best!

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**Chapter Eleven: Friend in Arms.**

The Hale house couldn't be creepier if it tried. There was constant echoing throughout it. All through the night, at the slightest movement, the entire place felt like it was going to fall to pieces. Maybe Avery's imagination had been playing up, but she was sure that this place was haunted. She could feel someone watching her and it wasn't Sam.

She had slept on the bare mattress that had squeaked just like the house. She used her sleeping bag as a blanket and was reasonably warm. She rose bright and early for the new day, ready to go on her next mission. They had to stock up on weapons.

"You know, I can go buy a gun or two. I'm not completely helpless." Sam said as Avery threw him her last granola bar for breakfast, slung her bag over her shoulder and got ready to leave.

"I know. But it's not about that." she rested on the door, surprised it didn't break off it's hinges, "I can't risk anyone we know seeing you. Besides, you need to sleep. You've been on watch all night."

"I'll sleep when you're back safe." Sam replied as Avery opened the door and left.

She had gone into town, the busiest part, and found the local arms dealer. She had transferred all of her account savings before she left Tallahassee into a new account that couldn't be traced by her parents, although she did prefer to pay by cash since they were still close to Bellevue. She had a trucker cap on covering her face from any in store security cameras. She managed to purchase the weapons and get out of there without any run ins. Still, she was surprised at the luck she was having. She bought some groceries, more bars and a few odd pieces of fruit and got out of town. She hated being out in public at this time, unsure of how her brother was doing.

When she got back to the Hale house, she found Sam waiting for her at the front door.

"What are you doing? Someone could see you!" she scolded him for standing out in the open.

"No they couldn't. I've been sitting here the whole time listening and sniffing the air. I would have known if anyone but you came close."

"Yeah, well don't get cocky. You know how hunters play against those senses." Avery persisted in lecturing him, despite the fact that he had been in complete control of any risk. She just felt she had to say something, since she had promised not to control his physical actions.

"Now, I'm back. You can go rest." she said as she entered the house.

"I'm actually not tired. I think I'm running off of adrenaline." he shrugged and walked into what would have been the living room ten years ago.

"We'll both go to sleep normally then tonight. Just we'll have to be half awake."

"Sure. Now show me what you got." he said, referring to the arsenal she bought them. She opened the contents of her bag onto the floor. There was two hand guns, one shotgun and one crossbow.

"Nice." Sam nodded, as she laid out some arrows and bullets she had bought as well.

"You can sit here and play with your new toys while I go upstairs and put our food away." Avery smiled at him, suddenly he had turned back into a typical male obsessed by weapons and violence. Why she ever thought it was a good idea to buy weapons for him she'd never know. He'd insisted on trying to stay out of Kanima form if possible, using normal weapons to defend himself. Avery was just happy not to be powerless anymore. She felt safe now that she had a shotgun to get rid of any pesky people who came looking for them.

Before she could reach the bedroom to put anything away though, the front door swung open. She had been delayed in her reaction, so the intruder had had a chance to survey their competition before they realised.

"Who are you?" they boomed, their deep masculine voice reverberating off the walls. Avery spun around to see a dark figure standing in the doorway. Sam had come out of the living room to get a look of the person, but the bright sun had skewed his view. The man saw Avery's shotgun in Sam's hand and immediately thought the worse. He saw two people inside the house, with weapons and stunned expressions and assumed they had been waiting for him. They must have been hunters. He growled and sharp talons grew from his hands, his face morphed and protruded. He grew fangs and sported a pair of red eyes. Avery panicked as he jumped, up the stairs towards her. She had no weapon. Actually she had no guns. With a simple glance at Sam, he shifted into his Kanima form and quickly grabbed the guy by the shirt. He pulled him away, falling back down the stairs as he did. The Alpha wolf got the vantage point and jumped on the top of Sam going to slash at his throat. His claws penetrated Sam's neck as Avery screamed. But Sam barely felt a thing, cracking his neck as it healed right before the guy's eyes.

There hadn't been a lot of light in the room. After the guy had come in, the door had shut and the place was as shadowy as ever. The guy tried to slit Sam's throat again, but her brother got the lead. Sam threw him away from himself and stood threateningly in front of Avery. Sam was quite a terrifying sight, if he wasn't protecting Avery. She didn't want to hurt this wolf that had come in, but if he didn't leave soon she was afraid she'd have to make Sam take action. But there was something familiar about his face, something that she felt she was missing. The two males both growled at each other once more, starting to circle. Then, like a puzzle piece fit, she knew who it was standing before them.

"Stop!" she screamed at the male. He looked up at her as she rushed down the stairs and stood in front of Sam herself.

"Derek Hale?" she asked, squinting at his wolf face. He slowly shifted back into human form and she was certain she was right. He nodded silently. Behind her, Sam was shifting back too, catching sight of the old friend that was standing in front of him.

"Sam?" Derek said with a dry throat, his voice was riddled with disbelief. Sam nodded as he came to his sisters side.

"And that makes you... Avery." Derek shifted his gaze to Avery, eyeing her up and down. Without warning, he lunged forward and swung a fist at Sam's face. It collided with such force that Sam fell to his knees, rubbing his jaw in pain.

"What's your problem?" Avery pushed at his chest, he didn't budge.

"I deserved that." Sam got to his feet, clicking his jaw back into place.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked brashly, he was still trying to hide his amazement at what Sam had turned into before him.

"We're here for a holiday." Sam crossed his arms, "What do you think?"

"I think that you're trespassing on my property." Derek replied.

"Then we'll be on our way. We didn't realise the place was still vacant." Avery pulled on her brother to pack up their things and get out of there. She could sense the tension in the air and didn't like it one bit. This encounter was not going to end well.

"No. You can stay," Derek said oddly, "But I should warn you that the Argents patrol this area all the time. That's why I tend to stay away from here."

"Then we'll still be on our way." Avery tugged harder at Sam's arm to get their stuff and leave. Derek and Sam were currently engaging in a stare off, that not even Avery could break. Even if she had turned Sam into a Kanima and forced him to do her will, he would still do it with eyes on Hale.

"It's been a while Derek." Sam said openly.

"I remember last time you said something like that you poisoned me with wolfsbane, beat me to a pulp and declared us mortal enemies."

"Let's be clear that it was a deed that didn't go unpunished." Sam looked at his sisters cheek, Derek's eyes followed. He gulped, knowing who was responsible for her scars.

"You have Peter to thank for that." was all that Derek could think of. Sam snickered, he had remembered Peter being a bad influence on Derek.

"Remind me to thank him when I see him."

"So..." Derek waltzed forward, "Besides the fuzzy tail, why are you back here?"

"Just the fuzzy tail." Sam tilted his head.

"Care to explain how that happened?" Derek asked.

"Not really." Sam cut him off. There was an eerie silence in the air as the house creaked beneath the three of them.

"I get it." Derek shook his head and scoffed slightly, "You want your privacy."

"No we want safety." Avery finally managed to disperse the tension, stepping forward and pulling Sam behind her.

"You should at least take your bags with you." Derek called as she was halfway out the door. She came wearily back in, to climb the stairs and retrieve her belongings. As she walked back down Derek blocked her path.

"You once showed me a gesture of kindness and you didn't have to." he said, turning back to Sam, "There's a small group of us living down in the abandoned subway if you need a place to stay. The one we used to hang around as kids."

"Thanks but, no thanks." Avery pouted, brushing past Derek. Sam folded his arms and now blocked her from the front door.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, knowing that Derek would be able to hear anyway.

"Where do you suppose we go?" Sam asked. Avery didn't have an answer.

"You've been staying away from the hunters I'd guess?" Sam looked back up at Derek.

"Trying. You know how pesky your lot could get. But they don't know where we're staying if that's what you're asking." Derek came down the stairs. Sam was thinking Derek's offer over, it could be awkward at first but they'd be away from hunters.

"Then, if it's not too much of a hassle, it'd be really helpful. There's only so much running a person can take." he replied.

"You know where to find it." Derek left his house, "I suppose I'll see you around."

Avery and Sam watched on as Derek got into his black car and drove away from the house. They could hardly believe what had just happened. Had Derek Hale really just invited them to stay with him? The same Derek Hale that was supposed to hate Sam, that should have ripped him to pieces despite whatever he had turned into. Avery and Sam's ventures were beginning to grow weirder as weeks went on. What was next, lizard people falling from the sky?


	12. Chapter 12

_Authors Note:_

This chapter took a while to write. I just swapped over computers the past weekend (early 18th b'day prezzie) and I was already having trouble getting this chapter right beforehand. The Venators get to meet Derek's pack now. I need to also know how you would all feel if I went slightly more AU and didn't kill Erica off come season 3? It's just been a thought on the back of my mind and I wanted to know how it'd play out in your opinions. Otherwise the plan is very much the same... and of course, everything is planned!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Shabby Chic**

"What was that?" Avery turned to her brother in shock. Sam shrugged and pulled the other strap of his backpack onto his left shoulder.

"Don't shrug me." she shouted, as Sam began to walk away from the house. Avery was chasing after him, putting the weapons back inside her bag.

"He offered to help us, so I said yes." Sam said simply, Avery scoffed.

"And what if he's lying. What if we've just been set up?"

"Then we've been set up." Sam paused and looked back at his huffing sister, "I don't see what you're so mad about."

"WHAT?" Avery screamed and threw her bag to the ground in anger, "You don't see why? Sam, we haven't seen him in ten years! His pack attacked me last time we were in town and you almost killed him. You think he's just going to forget all that bad blood behind us. That he's just your loving best friend who'd do anything in the world to stand by your side. Wake up call Sam! He's not."

"You were ten!" Sam shouted back, "What do you remember about anything that happened. You weren't there when I found out what he was. You didn't see the fight that went down. He was. He knows exactly how I stand on our 'friendship'."

"So you do admit you still think of him as a friend."

"Yeah and what of it? In case you couldn't already tell, I've never had a lot of friends. Derek was the only proper one I've ever had. He may not have said it out loud, but he understands our situation. Running from hunters, fearing for your life and wishing someone would just give you a break and lend a helping hand."

"You have that much faith in him?" Avery tilted her head, interested in what Sam had to say.

"Yeah. I do." Sam reached up to rub the back of his neck, "So you'll be civil?"

"As long as he is." Avery nodded, giving off a small smile to satisfy her brother. Inside she was still very peed off, but she did well not to show it.

xxxx

They had walked through the cover of the forest to reach the old railroad depot. Avery had already been out in public more than she liked today and didn't plan to walk along the main road for every man and his dog to see. Sam led the way, Avery had no clue where this secret boys hideout was. Sam had done some more explaining about Derek and himself. Avery didn't know the full story, like she had thought. There had been a deep secret Sam had hidden for years.

_Under the cover of night, the two boys met. Sam had called Derek straight after the attack on his sister, infuriated. Hidden under his clothes were masses of weapons. Guns, knives, light bombs. If Derek tried anything funny he would be well prepared. They stood across from one another in the pine forest and eyed each other off. Sam could see in the shadows that all of Derek's injuries had disappeared._

_"I thought we had a deal." Sam stepped forward, fuming at his ex-best friend._

_"As far as I'm aware, it still stands." Derek shifted his head in confusion._

_"Which members of your pack did you stick on my sister?" Sam shouted._

_"What?" Derek's confusion was now evident in his voice._

_"I come home to find my mother cradling my bleeding sister, who then tells me that she had to fight of three wolves that broke into our home." Sam reached into his pocket to pull something out, "Then I find this note." Derek moved to meet Sam and took the note from his hand._

_ "I didn't ask any of them to do this." Derek was shaking his head, handing the letter back after reading it._

_ "Then who did?" Sam dropped his aggressive tone, but still sounded wary. _

_"Peter..." Derek said as his jaw locked, "He said something cryptic to me the other day. About wolves not taking shit from hunters anymore."_

_"Your uncle?" Sam said shocked. Peter was only three years old than them, but had always been sketchy. Sam had never guessed that this could have been attributed to the fact that he was a wolf. _

_"Yeah." Derek started to pace back and forth, angry at what had happened to Sam's little sister. _

_"Is he the only one in your family to have the, you know... bite?" Sam lowered his voice. Derek met his gaze, cussing in his head for not being more careful. He had stopped thinking for one second and now he could have put Peter's life in danger._

_"You're not going to kill him, are you?" Derek snapped quickly. Sam shook his head. _

_"As much as I hate him right now, we had a deal. My family has gone after Ennis, he's the priority. He's the one who killed Paige." _

_"Thanks." Derek mumbled._

_"I don't want to kill anyone in your pack Derek." Sam walked closer and rested his hand on his friends shoulder. Derek sighed and nodded. _

_"No one in my family was bitten." Derek responded, "It's a generational thing."_

_"Wait... so you pack is your literal family?" Sam was shocked, Derek nodded again, "That explains why they were so irrational to attack my sister." _

_"Is Avery going to be alright?" Derek asked, his face was riddled with concern._

_"Besides some mental trauma, she's going to live."_

_"I'm so sorry. If I had have known what Peter was planning I never woul—," Derek was trying to apologize on his families behalf._

_"It's not your fault." Sam hushed him, "I didn't think you'd be to blame anyway."_

_"Then why did you call me?"_

_"To be honest," Sam let out a small huff of laughter, "I just really wanted an excuse to see you again."_

_"That's funny." Derek joined in the laughter, "I was hoping the same thing."_

_"Who would have ever thought it possible? A wolf and a hunter. Friends." Sam leant back on a tree trunk._

_"We're not defined by what we are Sam. It's who we are that makes us friends." Derek spurted out some wise crap, imitating their Chinese science teacher. They both laughed again, in longing of the past. Once they had stopped, an eerie silence of the woods took over. Sam looked over at Derek, seriousness taking over his expression._

_"We're leaving now." Sam said softly. Derek wasn't surprised, "Mum doesn't want Avery or I involved in this wolf business until we're older and smarter."_

_"And I'm guessing Peter's warning helped push her over the edge." Derek asked sarcastically. Sam groaned, getting back to his feet._

_"I better be off." Sam had started to walk away, "I'll try and stay in touch as best I can."_

_"I won't hold it against you if you don't." Derek said once Sam was almost out of hearing range. Sam didn't respond and left his wolf confidant alone. But he had heard, he just wasn't sure how to respond._

Avery and Sam had reached the entrance to the front of the abandoned depot, after their long talk. Now neither of them felt it was their turn to say anything. Uncertainty was so near. Once they went down the stairs to the subway, things were going to change. For better or for worse.

Their footsteps echoed as they touched the metal steps. You didn't need to be a wolf to know that someone was coming. Avery walked first with Sam trailing, both carrying full backpacks. When they reached the bottom step they were able to survey their new 'home'. It was large and spacious, one lone subway cart sat in the middle of it all. It smelt of rust and perspiration. Dust lined the walls and floors. You'd think for a hideout for wolves they'd find a place easier on the nose. Derek had said that he had a few others here than himself, but they never expected it to be a full pack. When three teenagers came waltzing out of the cart, they had no clue that they should have been expecting guests.

"Where's Derek?" Avery whispered to her brother, as the three moved forward more menacingly.

"Out." The blonde haired female retorted. Avery really needed to stop whispering in front of wolves, it made no difference.

"What do you want?" the tall black one asked.

"Your Alpha… he said we could stay here for a while, to get away from some hunters." Sam brushed past his sister and stood in front of her defensively in case any of them tried to make a move.

"You don't smell like wolves." The black one spoke again, "So I'm gonna ask you again. What do you want?"

"Really. That's the truth. Just a place to stay." Avery said, starting to reach inside her bag for her hand gun. It should be noted she was never one for subtlety, despite how much she would protest. The wolves' eyes all shot at her the moment she pried at the zipper. Then a roar came from deep inside them as they lunged forward to attack and defend their home. The black one threw Sam aside with ease and went after him with the other male beta. The female grabbed Avery by the collar and threw her to the floor, claws and teeth bared. She would have ripped Avery's throat out, had it not been for a reciprocal growl that came from the entrance to the place. It was Derek.

With one quick movement, similar to what he had done at the Hale house, he jumped down the stairs and shifted in the process. He reached down to tear away the blonde, his other wolves getting the message. They quickly let go of Sam who they had been in the process of beating up. Derek didn't scold them though, he only held out a hand to Avery which she cautiously took. With a yank, he had pulled her to her feet. She stepped away from him, embarrassed he had to save her, brushing off her now dusty clothes.

"These are our new guests." Derek announced.

"We're sorry…" a timid beta stepped forward, "We didn't know who they were. They smelled of hunter."

"They are." Derek said outright. The beta's all flinched, "Ex-hunters."

"How do you become an ex-hunter?" the blonde girl moved to the timid beta's side. She was not buying this story.

"Avery, would you do the honours of showing them." He gestured widely with his arm. She nodded and then looked over at Sam. Before all of their eyes, Sam began to change. His skin grew spotted fur, his teeth elongated, his nails grew sharp and a long tail flicked behind. As fast as he had shifted, Avery turned him back.

"Oh…" the girl chuckled, "That would explain it."

"Avery, Sam. This is Erica, Isaac and Boyd." Derek gave brief introductions, pointing to the corresponding members of his pack.

"You and your pack have very similar ways of greeting strangers." Avery chuckled slightly, "That's twice in one day you've almost managed to kill me."

"You just have poor timing." Derek responded, leaving her side and making his way to Boyd's side, "I'd give you two a tour, but there's not much to see. I'm about to start training them so you can sit back and watch."

"How 'bout I help you. I'm sure they could use some experience fighting off a seasoned hunter." Sam offered. Derek nodded as he, Isaac and Boyd moved down the end of the station. Sam trailed behind. Erica seemed disinterested in what Derek had to say though. She pouted and sneakily moved to Avery's side.

"So. What the hell is he?" she directed at Avery, leaning against a post.

"Sam?" Avery questioned, looking up at her brother who had started to talk with Derek.

"Yeah… he's like a giant cat."

"Jaguar actually." Avery corrected, "Were-jaguar, otherwise known as a—."

"Kanima." Erica scoffed with delight. Her brain was starting to tick over with thoughts of their own situation, "Derek didn't tell you our current situation, did he?"

"Ah… he just said you were hiding from hunters too." Avery sounded concerned. Erica made her worry.

"Yeah. Hunters." Erica nodded, although anyone could tell she was thinking otherwise. In fact she was thinking about the other Kanima problem they were having in Beacon Hills now, with a certain pig-headed jock. Only the other night they had staked out Scott McCall's house thinking that Lydia had in fact been a lizard version of the Kanima. Only instead Lydia's ex-boyfriend, Jackson, had been the culprit. She was sure that Sam and Avery's refuge had been no coincidence. Derek was a planner, he had always been. Admittedly his plans weren't always the best, but most of the time they worked. They still had to track down Jackson's master, but things were coming to a close. Their mystery was becoming clearer. Erica had reason to believe that Derek had hoped to use their new guests in a ploy against the other Kanima in town.

"So!" Erica perked up, "With you here, it's not a massive sausage-fest anymore. It's good to have another girl on the side."

"I'm afraid I won't be much use. I've given up my hunting days." Avery shrugged. Erica's eyes narrowed, as she lunged into action. She wanted to test to see how agile Avery really was and not take some 'modest' cold shoulder. Erica's hands went to close around Avery's neck when her victim caught them, bent them down awkwardly making a loud snapping noise. Erica yelped in pain as Avery twisted them behind Erica and pinned her to the pole she had been leaning on. The boys had turned around to look at the girls, after hearing Erica. Avery went red at them and let go.

"Sorry." She backed away, "Force of habit."

"It's okay." Erica winced, pulling her arms close to her chest and waiting for them to heal. The ex-hunter had just snapped the joints of her elbow apart with one movement. Given up hunting her ass.

"You're sister is a piece of work." Derek chortled to Sam on the other side of room.

"I'm not sure where she gets it from." Sam smirked back. He was surprised at how relaxed Derek was, he was feeling a little bit on edge. He knew that his friendship with Derek couldn't just go back to being how it was. It had been ten years! Sam was an entirely different person, but yet at the core he still felt the same.

It had been no surprise why Sam had found it easy to accept what Ilena had been. He knew from past experiences that rejecting people over what they were didn't benefit him. So he fought the 'bad guys'. He killed the wolves that had killed his own, but he had always had his conscience nagging him. Was he really doing the right thing. Standing amongst Derek and his pack, made him feel a great deal of guilt at the bottom of his stomach. Like someone had punched him hard a long time ago, but he had never recovered. There was a similar feeling where his heart was, although that was a sharp throbbing. Every time he took a step, took a breath it stung. He knew what it was and yet he refused to complain about it. He could speak about the heartbreak he was suffering. He couldn't tell his sister how much he wished everything would just end. He had thought about just killing himself the other night. While she slept he could have disappeared from the Hale house, down to the moors and ended his life. It would be quick and simple. She'd probably never find his body either. He could leave Avery a nice note so she could have closure and go on with her life. As great as that option sounded in his head, he couldn't allow himself to put Avery through what he was feeling. So he put on a brave face. He joked with Derek and pretended that he was over Ilena to Avery. But deep inside he knew things might not ever get better.

"Anyway." Derek addressed his young wolves, "The fun's over. Time to get to work."

Indeed there was work to be done. But for one moment, while the supernatural misfits stood together, things seemed relaxed.


	13. Chapter 13

_Authors Note:_

I have changed the name and description and also the cover picture of the story. I know I'm getting approx. 200 hits a chapter, but I'm looking to gain a bigger audience. So I just revamped the story a little bit. Don't be too confused :P I should have warned you in advance, but oh well. I still wanna know what you think about keeping Erica alive in season 3? Please leave a comment about it, it'd be incredibly helpful.

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**Chapter Thirteen: I Need Your Help.**

Bang, went Isaac on the floor as Derek threw him down.

"Again." Sam shouted from the other end of the room. Erica and Boyd stood up there with him. Isaac groaned and got up to his feet, "My sister can do better than that."

"Hey!" Avery shouted, as she watched Isaac to try and knock down Derek for the hundredth time today.

"I mean a human could do better than that." Sam corrected himself, "Isaac, you need to move faster."

"I'm trying." Isaac moaned, going to line up again. Now it was Erica's turn. She bounded off the walls, with agility far beyond Isaac. Although as she reached Derek, he caught her easily, pounding her into the ground. She grunted as the air left her lungs.

"You two really think that it's a fair fight?" Avery got to her feet walking over to the downed Erica.

"What would you suggest?" Derek sounded slightly annoyed that the most powerless person in the room was trying to give him advice on how to train his pack.

"For one, you have at least thirty seconds to attack them. You watch them come towards you and on top of that you're an Alpha. That's not my definition of a fair fight."

"You think that the Argents will fight fair?" Derek raised his voice.

"The Argents?" Avery replied warily, she was taken aback, "That's the hunters after you?"

"Yeah, what about them?" Boyd called.

"Our families were well acquainted." Avery crossed her arms and looked over at Sam, "I told you there was more to the story than what he told us."

"Hunters are hunters. They're all dangerous in their own respect." Sam tried to deter her nerves, "Argent or not."

"Fine. It just means we need to get these lot up to scratch really soon." Avery then turned back to Derek spitefully and helped Erica to her feet, "They need a more one on one approach. I'll take Erica, Sam you take Isaac and Derek you can take Boyd."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the Alpha here." Derek held his arm out to stop her walking off with Erica, "I make the calls."

"If you're the Alpha, prove it." Avery turned back to him and bit her lip tauntingly, "Give me three hours with Erica and I promise she'll be able to take down even you. Deal?"

Derek paused and eyed off his competition, Erica smiled. Everyone was staring at Derek, waiting for him to make a decision. Sam's little sister wouldn't upstage him, so he held out his hand for her to shake.

"Deal." He said matching her smirk. They both turned away and went to collect their students.

xxxx

"You really think you can teach me?" Erica was concerned as Avery reached into her bag.

"Of course. I've taken down Alpha's before, it's easy if you know what you're doing." She pulled out her crossbow, "Wolves like Derek rely solely on strength. They get pig-headed and overconfident very quickly. The key to winning a fight is thinking smart and on your feet. If you can match his brute strength with cunning strategy, you'll always win.

"So what's the plan then?" Erica was pumped, and began eagerly jumping on the spot, "How are we going to do this."

"Anticipate." Avery said raising the crossbow and firing. Erica wasn't prepared and instead the arrow sliced her cheek. She grabbed it in pain, "Derek will be fast, like the arrow. Just like when you're fighting off hunters, you want to know their strengths and weakness. But you also want to know how to deal with the situation so it doesn't rise again. Each time you fight, your opponent has more time to study your movements. They can study your favoured moves and learn to block them.

"Like with hunters, killing them is stupid. A beta wolf on their own has no chance of killing multiple hunters. They could probably take down one or two but then you've given the rest of them permission to hunt you. Hunters have a code. We don't kill wolves that don't kill innocents or our own. You want to injure or scare someone off from coming after you."

"What does this have to do with fighting Derek?" Erica asked.

"Everything." Avery smiled raising the crossbow again. This time Erica caught the arrow before it reached her face, "You just learnt from my past actions, did you not?"

"Yeah." Erica nodded.

"And you've fought with Derek before?"

"Yeah."

"He knows the way you usually attack. Now the element of surprise is you new strength." Avery stated shooting the crossbow once more. Erica caught it and laughed.

"That's not surprising!" she rolled her eyes, Avery's coaching was getting repetitive. Without warning Sam, in Kanima form, jumped out behind Erica and tackled her to the ground. She was pinned. Avery walked over and bent down beside her protégé.

"It's your job to come up with something that'll surprise Derek enough to beat him."

xxxx

Avery and Erica stood up one end of the subway while Derek and Boyd stood at the other. Derek shooed Boyd off to go stand by Sam and Isaac, who were watching in the middle.

"She doesn't look anymore impressive." Derek heckled Avery, as he cracked his knuckles and loosened his neck.

"Well it shows the lack of insight you have then." Avery squinted. She turned back to Erica and patted her shoulder.

"You'll do great." She said encouragingly. Then she left Erica's side and waltzed down to Derek, "Try not to let her kill you." She patted his chest and then moved aside. Derek grunted and then re-focused.

Erica let out a low growl in challenge, before shaking tension from her shoulders. Derek matched her growl and shifted into his Alpha form. Erica look up at her Alpha, with a poker face. She folded her arms and rested her weight onto one foot watching him as her claws and fangs slowly grew out. Derek rushed forward and she moved to meet him. She knew exactly what she was going to do to surprise him.

He swung first, narrowly missing her. She dodged a second punched and backed away. Derek almost chuckled as Erica's face grew pale at his near miss. They began to circle as the other three boys watched on nervously. Avery stood next to them smugly, hoping that she was helping put Derek off. Every now and then she could see his eyes flick to her's. Then when he looked away for once second, Erica pounced. She slashed at his arm, but he barely flinched. She moved away as he growled back at her, unfairly using his Alpha control over her. But Erica was determined.

It was her turn to end this fight once and for all. She lunged forward again, jumping into the air. Derek was expecting her to slash at him, but when her arms and legs wrapped around his neck and her lips collided into his, he was stunned. He let Erica linger there for second, and he would have pulled her off, until her feet detached from his waist and got underneath his footing. He hit the ground and she sat perched on top of him. He was beat.

"—And I think that means that Erica wins." Avery stepped forward to gloat. Erica chuckled and stood up, holding out her hand for Derek. He was fuming from his ears. He hit her hand away and stood up on his own.

"Great." He scowled at Avery, "So now if she wants to beat a hunter, all she has to go is make-out with them. Great training."

"No." Avery scoffed, "She just has to take them by surprise and use it to her advantage instantly. No gloating, no long speeches. Just simple trickery. Besides you didn't look like you were complaining too much when she was attached to your mouth."

"Do you think this is a game?" Derek raised his voice and towered over Avery. She glared back at him willing to stand her ground.

"Yeah. Sure." Avery said in an overly sarcastic tone, "The lives of my brother and I and now your pack aren't important whatsoever. I just want everyone dead. Someone give him an award, Derek Hale's worked out my master plan!"

"You're insufferable." Derek shouted as Sam raced forward and pushed the two apart. He glowered at Avery for one second before storming off. Everyone was silent, before Sam turned on his sister.

"So much for your promise to be civil." He shook his head and followed after Derek, hoping to apologise on her behalf. Avery sighed and shook her head in agitation.

"I still won right?" Erica asked. Isaac and Boyd flashed her a toothy smile. She had won, Derek was just being a bad sport about it.


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note:_

I took a little bit to update this chapter. I was going to try and write it on friday, but couldn't find the spark. Then the weekend was hectic with me turning 18 and having an awesome birthday bash! Lots of dancing and drinking, but mostly dancing. So now I'm updating because after party clean-up duty, I found time to write. Getting down the interactions with Sam, Avery and Derek has been a lot harder than I expected. I'm really challenged to write Derek as close to his on-screen character as possible. I don't want to write him sounding like an entirely different character. The following chapters are set to lead into the episode "Raving" just so you're all aware of where we are on the Teen Wolf timeline.

Enjoy and thanks again for the reviews! :)

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**Chapter Fourteen: On Her Behalf.**

Sam was following Derek towards the entrance of the train depot.

"Derek. Stop." Sam called. Derek had hold of the door handle, but froze in place. He swiveled on his heel and faced Sam.

"She's just like that, she doesn't mean to insult anyone." Sam tried to defend his sister. Derek dropped his gaze, wetting his lips before talking.

"She sounded pretty bent on getting a reaction."

"But she's always been like that. She means well." Sam was extremely sorry.

"I know." Derek replied, but he was still angry underneath. He hated the fact that she, of all people, was showing him up. He hated being beaten by anyone. It was a feeling of weakness that sent every fibre of his being into overdrive. He became enraged because the last time he had been weak, he got most of his family killed.

Derek would have said more, but he didn't know exactly what would make Sam feel better. He was mad and he needed time on his own to cool it. He wasn't going to throw a tantrum and carry on that they were his guests and should behave like that. He needed them much more than they need him. With Jackson on the loose and hunters abound he could do with a few extra allies. That had been the main reason why he let them stay.

He never forgot Sam; the events that occurred ten years ago still were vivid on his mind. Their fight, Avery's attack and then their talk in the forest. But if Sam had come back for any other reason than being a supernatural predator, neither of them would have hesitated to throw the first punch. They would have been out for blood. That's what Derek had to believe in his heart. He couldn't hold onto fantasies of the Sam before him being the same one who had once been his best friend. For all he knew, Sam could have been in cahoots with Kate about the fire. That was something he didn't dare dwell on.

Beforehand, he had eavesdropped in onto Avery's training with Erica and something she had said rung true. He needed the element of surprise. In order to fight the likes of Gerard and his mindless band of hunters, Derek needed his own secret weapon.

"I'll speak to her and ask her to calm it down." Sam nodded to himself, about to go back to his sister.

"Don't bother." Derek brushed his gesture off, "I'll talk to her later."

"Are you sure that's smart?"

"As far as I'm aware, she's the only one here that actually doesn't bite." Derek said in a derisive tone. Sam sighed and bit the inside of his mouth.

"Just… thank you for letting us stay here." He said.

"I'm not doing it out of the bottom of my heart." Derek replied swiftly, shifting his weight onto one foot. "I need your help.

"There's more than just hunters in this town."

"Other wolves?" Sam questioned.

"One, but he's not the problem. There's another Kanima, except it's mutated. It looks like a giant lizard."

"I don't think that's a Kanima. Kanimas a cats, not lizards." Sam sounded puzzled.

"That's what I thought at first, until we were trying to take it down and it got confused by it's own reflection."

"So why exactly do you need my help?"

"Strength wise, you'd be on equal par with it. Only it has a nasty habit of secreting paralyzing venom. I'm not sure, but it might be possible that you're immune to it. In Kanima form of course." Derek added.

"How exactly do you plan to do that?"

"We know who it is and all we need to do is corner him and take him down." Derek explained.

"Why though?" Sam furrowed his brow, "I don't get why you have to 'take him down', which I assumed means—,"

"Kill him. Yeah." Derek cut him off.

"He's tried to kill some of my pack on multiple occasions and he has a habit of killing random citizen's of this town in a gory way."

"But—,"

"He killed Isaac's dad and nearly Erica and I the other night at Beacon Hills High."

"So is this a revenge mission then?"

"No this is a keep my pack and the citizen's of Beacon Hill's safe mission." Derek said with conviction.

"You realize that the Kanima is just the vessel. The one to blame is it's master. If you want to stop it you have to find the master."

"You sound just like that other wolf I know." Derek laughed slightly.

"I feel like we might get along." Sam joked back, but there was seriousness in his voice, "I need more information about this. If we can trap it maybe that's the better bet. I just know that if I was in his position you'd wish that someone would go after the real bad guy."

"Wait till you meet him in human form. The guy's not exactly the friendliest."

Derek and Sam had spoken some more about Derek's plan to fight Kanima with Kanima. It seemed logical; Sam had agreed to help as long as the kid Jackson Whittemore wasn't killed. Derek was extremely reluctant and had debated strongly that repercussions were far worse than the benefits of saving Jackson. Alas, he needed Sam so he caved in, but never outright promised. He just strongly implied he would do the 'right' thing. Sam on the other hand had said it could a sort of repayment for letting his sister and himself hide out.

Overall it was a good deal from where each stood. Only there was one dilemma; they weren't sure if Sam could be paralyzed by Jackson's venom. If he was immune, then taking Jackson down would be much easier. If he wasn't, he'd only be useful in taking down hunters which was still better than nothing. Derek still had a small amount left over from when they tried to test Lydia so he would use that on Sam and hope for the best. The only thing in the way of his plan was one feisty brunette.

xxxx

Erica and Boyd had gone back to their homes and Sam had asked Isaac to do some further training downstairs. So on the first level only Derek and Avery remained. Avery was asleep, bundled up into a corner of one of offices that used to sell train tickets. Derek opened the door to the room and slowly paced in. Every time he looked at her, he found his eyes drawn to her cheek with the laceration. He had never agreed with what Peter had done, but Derek couldn't deny Peter done what he set out to do. The Venators went running and his family had been safe from them ever since. It should have been Sam though; if they had attacked anyone for revenge it should have been him. Not her. So as much as she infuriated him, he didn't blame her for treating him spitefully.

If it was possible, he would do this without her. But since Sam had no control over shifting without a push from Avery, they needed her help.

Derek leant on a desk that sat in the middle of the room and cleared his throat.

"Sam, go away." She grumbled and turned away, "I haven't slept well in weeks."

Derek didn't move and continued to stare at her. She knew he was still there.

"Seriously. Go away!" she whined, turning back and rubbing her eyes. When she saw Derek standing there with the tiniest smirk playing his lips she grew even more frustrated.

"So from a temper tantrum you quickly resort to watching people while they sleep. Way to go Edward." She got to her feet.

"Edward?" Derek raised an eyebrow.

"You know, creepy vampire from those books. In love with some annoying-as-fuck human girl. I don't know. It's just a joke." Avery shook her head.

"So I'm Edward… which makes you who?" he toyed with her. She frowned as he spoke and let disgust grow across her face.

"Funny." She scoffed.

"You've got the annoying-as-fuck part down." He replied with a serious face.

"Except not in love with you in the slightest." She quipped, "In fact I would go as far to say that if I ever thought of you in that way I would have to send myself to a mental asylum for fear I had gone mad."

"Harsh." Derek faked petulance.

"I don't date men that get into a huff when a girl beats them." She almost laughed.

"Well it's a good thing that I don't date women that have a disrespect for authority and a wish to get everyone those around them killed."

"Right?!" Avery raised her voice, "Because you're so much better yourself. It's a work of a genius turning three pathetic teenagers into werewolves just to use as bodyguards. Do they realize just how dangerous the Argent hunters are? Or maybe about Gerard Argent's psycho knack of severing werewolves in half?

"But I'm not done." she continued on, Derek's face was growing red, "You not only drew those innocent kids into this mess, you convinced them that they needed this. That they needed the drama of pain and death. Derek, I have a disrespect for your authority because you in no way earned it and if that seems like I want everyone around me dead, then you really need to re-evaluate your assumptions of people. From where I stand you're the one attracting death."

Avery and Derek were fuming. Derek was letting her words sink in, just when he thought he had gotten over their last encounter, she started ripping at the verbal scars from before.

"Well?" Avery flung her arms out openly, daring him to respond. He didn't. He just continued to stare her angrily in the eyes. Her words had hit home. He was reckless, he'd always been. But after the fire he had just done what he needed to survive. It may not have been the best choice and it may have hurt people, but he was safe. What he hated though, was the fact that Avery had the nerve to think that after _one day_ that she knew him! She had no clue at all.

"That's what I thought." Her words echoed in the silent room, after Derek didn't respond. She tried to move past him, but he put his arm out and grabbed her wrist tightly.

"What do you want?" she faced him, fire in her eyes. She was leaning away, fist clenched in his grip.

"You're wrong." Derek said with an unusual calmness in his voice. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of enraging him enough to turn full wolf. He loosened his hold as she yanked her hand free and rubbed it.

"Prove it." She challenged him. He was more than happy to oblige.

"You know the bond you have with Sam? The feeling that you'd do anything to protect him, even if it meant risking your own life?" he asked, her gaze said it all. She knew exactly what he was talking about, "I didn't mindlessly turn them or manipulate them. They needed this and regardless of what my original intentions were, we have that bond. They are my family now."

"I never doubted that." She said quietly, dropping her gaze. "So if you care about them as much as you say you do, then maybe you'd think about letting the reigns go a little bit? I know a thing or two."

"Just a little. But I'll still have a tight grip on them." Derek nodded, "You seem to be a good planner. We need someone like that."

Avery mimicked Derek's nod and stepped back. She was still unsure about him, but had decided to give Derek a chance.

"I suppose you didn't come here for lecture." She said, inviting to explain himself.

"Not exactly, but I had a feeling I was going to get one whether I liked it or not." Derek said with smugness.

"So what did you come in here for?" Avery ignored his comment, but smiling a little to herself.

"Before you start to shout again, Sam has already consented." Derek said cryptically, "But there's a bigger problem than just the hunters. We've got a lizard problem."


	15. Chapter 15

_Authors Note: _

I got major writers block trying to write the chapter so if it sounds off I'm very sorry! I had to revert to using script from the episode to help drive me forward. Overall it's still on the right path. I just get sick of writing dialogue sometimes. But otherwise, I hope you enjoy. Also a million thanks for the reviews, they keep my creative spark going!

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**Chapter Fifteen: The Broody Chronicles**

Avery sat quietly in Derek's car, parked outside the veterinarian clinic. Sam was sitting next to her, as Derek and Isaac went to talk out the new plan with some wolf-kid named Scott and the magical vet Dr. Deaton. Avery was not happy in the least. Although it would seem like overkill, Avery had got into yet another screaming match with Derek over using her brother to help him sort out his own problems. It would also seem that Derek's uncharacteristic kindness was masking a deeper scheme, which Avery had guessed. They were currently back in the 'I hate you, I refuse to talk to you' phase. The switch for that mode had been constantly toggled back and forth recently. Just when they thought 'Hey! Maybe they're not so bad' one of them would do something to tick the other off. Currently the tally board was favouring Avery 3-2.

The conversation about Kanimas fighting Kanimas had been two days ago. If there was anything that Derek and Avery had in common, it was that they were both champion brooders. Capable of annoying the crap out of anyone with their moody antics.

So there the Venators sat, while Derek discussed the plan, not willing to risk Avery interjecting again.

xxxx

_"Nope." Avery shook her head, "I leave you alone with him for an hour while I nap and now you're all pumped to fight a giant mutant kanima lizard."_

_"Because it's the right thing to do!" Sam rolled his eyes, "I get it that you want to be protective, but I can't sit around hiding and doing nothing the rest of my life."_

_"Yeah you can and you will." Avery replied, pointing to a chair. Without a complaint Sam walked over to it and sat down. When he had done so, he snapped out of her control and frowned. He went to get up but his feet were planted firm on the ground._

_"I can make you, remember?" Avery said with defiant pout._

_"What's that going to achieve?" Sam threw his hands up in the air with defeat letting his voice raise to a height she hadn't heard before, "More bickering? Hateful comments? It's not going to make the situation go away."_

_"It's just…" she stopped to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat. She hated it when he guilt tripped her, "It's not just about you fighting that worries me. It's the fact that once we get involved in this mess, the hunters are going to find out about our existence. The Argent's will tell Mum and Dad."_

_Avery slumped beside him and hung her head in her lap. The decision was coming down on her. Even if she wouldn't help Sam shift, she had a feeling he'd still want to help out somehow. It pissed her off that he thought he needed to do it to pay back Derek too. Like there was a debt her owed him. When Derek had told her what was going on and how Sam had agreed to his plan she felt a little betrayed to say the least. As if Sam couldn't trust her or didn't want to deal with her angry response. She couldn't help it that she was a pessimist, nor could she help the side of her that always braced for disaster. Anyone with half a brain knew that this wasn't the best idea. But there were a few upsides. For one, if they were discovered by the Argents, the fact that they were in a larger 'pack' meant their safety wasn't entirely compromised. If they could continue training the new wolves, their chances against the hunters were doubled. Neither of them though, was betting on the hunter's code. Their parent's proclamation had made things very clear; that was out the window. She had to pray that if she took a leap of faith that all would pan out well. She would never be entirely convinced though._

_"You know, that Jackson kid is in a hard place. He doesn't have someone like you in control." Sam gently prodded, "And despite what you think, we're still hunters. We protect those that can't protect themselves."_

_Avery let out a pained sigh and looked her brother in the eye, "Okay. I'm in."_

_There was a loud cough as Derek entered the room. He looked almost pleased, but that couldn't be right. Derek didn't have a happy setting._

_"Well I'm glad your pep talk is over." He said flatly, crossing his arms and cracking his neck, "Although he's useless if he can't fight off the Kanima venom."_

_"Have you got it?" Sam rose from his seat to meet Derek in the middle of the room. Derek held up a small glass vial, giving it a little shake. Inside there seemed to be a clear gooey liquid. The Kanima Venom, "Okay. Good."_

_"Would you do the honours?" Derek turned to Avery. Avery walked up as well and stared intensely at her brother. Within a couple of seconds his yellow eyes began to show and he grew claws, fangs and fur. They were officially in business. _

_"Take only a drop, put it on your finger and then swallow it." Derek instructed, holding out the bottle. Sam took it and did as he was told. There was a moment of eerie silence as the clear liquid moved from Sam's claw into his mouth. They all had their breaths held, hoping that this would work. Sam stood still for a second, Derek even looked hopeful, but then Sam stared down at his hand. His knees, back and arms tensed, sending him toppling over onto the ground. Avery stepped forward just to catch him as he did, laying him gently on the ground. Derek let out a breath, he had been holding, in disappointment. _

_"Scrap that plan then." Derek said dryly. Avery glowered at him while inspecting her brother was all right, "He's just as useless as anyone when the venom gets in his system."_

_"Maybe I can talk it to death." Sam said half-heartedly, his mouth being the only part of him to actually function._

_"Wait." Avery held a finger in the air to silence the pair. She was staring at his foot. She could have sworn she saw it twitch. Derek followed her eye line as Sam's foot indeed moved. _

_"Try moving your ankle Sam." Avery insisted, propping his head up. He was looking down at his foot that was moving slightly when his ankle started to move too._

_"It's like someone was standing on me, keeping me down and then it goes away." Sam explained, getting some more movement back in his chest. Derek walked over and without warning drew his claws and dug them into Sam's leg. He let out a howl of pain, eyes popping in their place._

_"What the fuck Derek?" Avery jumped to her feet and pushed at the Alpha's chest, who stepped back._

_"The thing attacked me and Erica once. Pain is sometimes the key to getting the healing process to accelerate." Derek raised his hands in surrender as Avery went to shout at him again. As she was about to, she felt a light tap on his shoulder. She spun around to see Sam standing there with a bright grin._

_"You're not immune, but you recover from it much faster." Derek stated, "We could still use that to our advantage."_

xxxx

"Do you reckon he does his own laundry?" Avery said in the silence of the car. Sam looked at his sister and scoffed. She was talking about Derek, obviously, "Because I feel like he has so much black in his wardrobe. If you and I are out in public now, I might as well offer to help him with his washing, I can go to the local dryers and not have to worry about being seen. I could throw in some bleach with his blacks and then some red socks. It could be glorious."

"I thought we had sorted this out." Sam said in a slightly amused tone, "You are going to help me turn, so I can help Derek."

"I agreed to help out the Jackson-kid." Avery corrected.

"You realise he's probably listening in to our conversation right now?" Sam asked, as the handsome devil himself appeared, "And there he is."

"Good. It was starting to get hot in here." Avery said, as she opened the car door and stepped out. She stretched her arms out and gave a little yawn, "What took you so long Hale?"

"Scott's… difficult." He said with a tight jaw.

"Can't be as difficult as me." Avery smiled and walked past him, Sam in tow.

She pushed the front door open and a little bell sounded. The veterinarian's was very quaint. Inside there was the typical waiting room setting; less that comfortable armchairs, a little desk with magazine's on it and the office desk that lead into the hidden workspace. Standing on the other side of the office gate was Isaac, leaning on the doorframe into the back.

"Where's this Scott?" Avery called out, "I already like him. He's got Derek fuming."

As she said that, a bald man walked out to greet them.

"How polite, you must be Scott." She held out her hand, going to open the little gate to meet him. It wouldn't budge though. It wasn't like it's hinges were stuck, no it was like there was something else at play. She could feel a heat coming from it and reached out in the open air to press against it. There was a barrier, a force field.

"Mountain ash." The bald man smiled, opening the gate for her. Instantly the heat disappeared. She scoffed with stunned delight. She had never been on the receiving end of Mountain Ash's power. This was something new.

"Well look at that. Apparently, I'm supernatural!" Avery smiled, raising an eyebrow at her brother, "As I was saying, Scott." She held out her hand again. The bald man took and smiled back.

"Actually I'm Alan Deaton. The veterinarian." He corrected. Avery went red, as a younger looking boy poked his head around the corner.

"That would be Scott." Derek said, walking through the gate. He still had the angry tone in his voice.

After the initial who-ha, of Avery throwing a friendly arm over Scott and congratulating him on a job well done, they had to get to business. They all stood around one of the silver tables trying to decide the best course of action. Derek, as usual, had trouble keeping his end of bargains and was insisting that to end the Kanima threat they had to kill it despite what he had promised Sam.

"He's not an it!" Scott interjected, "He's Jackson and as much of a tool as he is, he doesn't deserve to die."

"I agree, not when he's not in control of his actions. I say we find the master and take them down. They're the one responsible for the murders." Sam added.

"That's all well and good to say that we'll get the master, but do either of you have any idea who it actually is." Derek's voice was slightly raised. There was silence for a moment. Alan got an idea and walked over to one of his shelves. All eyes followed him, until he returned with a spice rack of small jars. Each had it's own unique symbol across the lids. Isaac's face lit up like a child in a candy store, he leant forward to pick one up when Derek swatted his hand away.

"Watch what you touch."

Isaac tried to ignore what his Alpha had said and directed his curiosity to Deaton himself. "What are you? Some kind of witch?" he asked, intrigued at what the good doctor was up to.

"No. I'm a veterinarian." Deaton responded with a knowing smirk, "Now, none of these will actually be effective in fighting off the Kanima's venom."

"We're all open to suggestions." Derek said as Isaac jumped in.

"What about an effective offense." Isaac furrowed his brow.

"We already tried, I nearly took its head off and Argent emptied an entire clip into it. It just get's back up." Derek finished.

"Well if there's something I do know, it's that no matter how strong something may seem, nature always demands a weakness. The trick is to find out what the Kanima's weakness is." Deaton said.

"It can't swim." Derek stated.

"Does that go for Jackson as well?" Deaton questioned. Scott shook his head.

"No. Jackson's the captain of the swim team." Scott said with a confused look. Deaton only nodded.

"It's manifesting something from its master then." Avery said, Deaton seemed like he was about to say the same thing.

"Essentially, you're trying to catch two people." He turned away again to get something from his drawers, stepping back with a medallion in hand, "A puppet and a puppeteer." He put the medallion down of the table.

"One killed the husband, so the other had to kill the wife, do we know why?" Deaton questioned.

"I don't think Jackson could do it. His mother died pregnant too and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else." Scott said through strained thought.

"How do you know it's not part of the rules? The Kanima kills murderers. If Jackson kills the wife, then the baby dies too. " Isaac proposed instead.

"Does that mean your father was a murderer?" Scott turned to Isaac.

"Wouldn't surprise me if he was." Isaac gulped and let a sour expression cover his face. The Venator's hadn't been aware Isaac's dad was a victim, although Isaac himself didn't seem too hung up about it.

"Hold on, the beastiary says their bonded, right? What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson but the person controlling him." Deaton pulled out one of his jars, "What if something that affects the Kanima also affects its master." He sprinkled black mountain ash around the medallion.

"Makes sense." Sam nodded, "When Avery and I were running from… _hunters_, I wasn't afraid to go into a fight. Like Jackson's not normally afraid of water. But Avery was thinking about survival, getting out safely and so I would do what she wanted. The connection we have it's not like being siblings or friends. It's like your sense of right and wrong becomes turned upside down. No matter what is actually morally right, I would see Avery's point of view as correct."

"So what?" Avery spoke, "I guess we find all the people in the town that can't swim and try to drown them. If Jackson comes to the rescue then I suppose we've got out master. I don't think so."

"Not like that, but … I think it means we can catch them." Scott said with a buoyant smile, "Both of them."

"Anybody got any ideas?" Isaac asked openly. Again everyone was caught deep in thought.

"I saw Jackson the other night, he was buying tickets to this rave that's happening. He had this twisted look on his face, the one he gets when he's not in control. I think something's going to go down." Scott explained.

"Then we need a plan." Avery nodded, "Scott you need to be in charge of getting tickets. I don't care how you do it, just get them. We're gonna need a few."

"What are you planning on doing once you're inside?" Derek questioned. She gazed over at the Mountain Ash on the table and got an idea. The metaphorical lightbulb appeared above her head.

"We're going to cage ourselves a Kanima." She said blatantly, picking up some of the ash in the jar and letting it fall into her other hand.


	16. Chapter 16

_Authors Notes:_

I think this is my favourite chapter so far, it's kind of hectic and a lot of crazy stuff happens. There's some fight scenes that were intensely hard to write because I'm so bad at writing coherent action, but I worked very hard on perfecting them. This also happens to be the longest chapter I have so far as well. Go figure. But it's safe to say I think you'll all enjoy the ending to this chapter also ;)

I've just started up a polyvore account for all my characters outfits, if you search my username jaiime95 you'll be able to find Avery's outfit for this chapter. don't forget to leave a comment or tell me

Thanks for the reviews again. They mean a great deal to me. I'm going to start replying to them all from now on so make sure you're not on guest if you want me to respond a question or concern.

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**Chapter Sixteen: We're Off to Fight the Kanima**

The night wasn't quiet, not at all. The sound of booming bases filled the air, the waft of sweaty bodies pressing up against one another as drinks spilt and inhibitions were lost. Neither Sam nor Avery would admit that they missed the idea of going to a rave –lizard Kanima's optional – like they had once done. Being normal, uhhh! What an impossible concept.

The plan was clear and it didn't allow for any rogue dancing. This venture was strictly tactical. Avery and Sam had acquired tickets thanks to Isaac's brutish ways, not that they were complaining. Once inside they'd meet up with Isaac, Erica and Scott. Scott had been given a heavy dose of Ketamine to inject Jackson with; all they had to do was get close enough. Then it was sleepy time for Jackson and interrogation time for them. Sam and Avery on the other hand were the back up plan. Avery had to become a wallflower, inconspicuous and in the background. Sam would be tagging along with the wolf pack and if anything went wrong, she had to be out of the way. This was a claw fight and her nails weren't up to scratch. From all their knowledge, Jackson's bite mutated because he had a dark past that he needed to resolve. If they could get him to acknowledge this and try to reconcile with it, they could save him without resorting to extensive amounts of violence. They just had to drug him and tie him up first.

Walking towards the rave, Avery couldn't help but smirk to herself. Erica had let her borrow something to wear and stepping out of jeans into a short skirt was a big change. She thought it was quite metaphorical. Shedding of old skin and all that crap. Plus, as superficial as it was, Avery always felt more comfortable with a bit of make-up on her face. She hated people staring at her scar. But with the clothing ensemble she was sporting tonight it was highly unlikely their eyes would be there. The skirt was quite beautiful on it's own, a kind of Aztec print that was very popular right now. Paired with a loose black halter-neck and some heeled sandals, the Kanima wouldn't be the only thing she'd be fighting off tonight.

Flanking the siblings was Derek and Boyd, Isaac and Erica were already inside. Their pokerfaces were on and they were in attack mode. Derek and Boyd would secure the perimeter to make sure Jackson couldn't harm anyone once the mountain ash had been laid. Nothing could go wrong tonight. All until Scott was suddenly rushing out of the warehouse to meet them, visibly concerned.

"The hunters are here." He exclaimed, jumping a flight of stairs to reach the four.

"What?" Derek's mouth dropped.

"Allison told her father it's Jackson. They're gonna screw everything up." Scott said, biting his lip. Derek had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop himself from saying something counter-productive, "I gave Isaac the Ketamine. He's in charge of taking Jackson down. We've gotta stop the Argents from stuffing up the plan."

"Stop them from getting in here." Sam turned to Derek, "Take Boyd and guard the entrance. Scott you go around the other side and keep watch. Avery and I will go through with the rest of the plan as before. If you need us you're gonna have to howl."

Before anyone could say anything, everyone had begun to go off to their reassigned posts, there was no time for arguement. They needed to be quick. Sam had hold of Avery's wrist and they went on inside, showing tickets at the door. But Avery was silently freaking out. Once they were inside only then did Sam realize his sister showing the first signs of a panic attack. Her breathing was racing in time with her heart, her eyes were flicking every which way and her thoughts were running rampant.

This couldn't be happening. Not here, not now. She knew that the hunters could have been around, but she'd been so sure they weren't in on this. She had convinced herself that she would only run into them when she was going to sabotage Derek's laundry. It was going to be comedic not dauntingly scary. She was going to taunt them about her secret lair with her werewolf minions. It would be all fun and games. Then they would ask how she's been coping with a werewolf brother and she'd tell them straight out what he really was. How she was his master and how she was going to ensure that he never hurt a living soul. They were going to think highly of her. They would pass the information onto her parents and soon enough they'd all be singing kumbaya together. They'd have thanksgiving together and Christmas and everyone would forget that there was anything bad that had happened between them. They'd be a family again, all grievances forgiven.

"AVERY!" Sam shouted grasped her shoulders and shaking her. She looked up at him, eyes half full of tears and shook her head.

"Right." he said assertively, "We're getting you out of here." he tugged on her arm and lead her from all the noise into one of the back rooms of the warehouse. There was nothing but a fold-out chair and some kind of industrial bench. Sam sat her down on the bench and got to his knees, grasping her hands in his.

"Avy." he moved one hand to brush hair out of her eyes, "Just breath. In and out. Steady." he calmed her. She copied him breathing steadily, in and out, heart still racing. The room around her was spinning, the flashes of light from outside were still passing through the doorway, but otherwise the room was dark. Her stomach was churning, threatening to come up. At the thought of throwing up, her short breath returned. Again Sam tried to comfort her but there was no getting through.

She was thinking about all the terrible things that could happen tonight, from vomiting to leaving here with someone dead. What if she was the dead one? What if the Kanima's master was someone they knew, hiding plainly under their noses? What if her parents already knew where they were and were ready to attack tonight? She was letting every insignificant thought into her head. But then, out of nowhere, it started to subside. Her normal breathing returned, her heart stopped feeling like it was going to explode, the nausea disappeared and finally the spinning stopped and she was able to focus on the worried face in front of her. Her brother was clutching at her tightly trying to make her calm. He must have done something because she seemed to be okay. He didn't know whether it was in what he said or maybe just by being at her side, but she was in the clear.

"You alright now?" he said softly, careful not to incite another attack. She nodded with confusion.

"I don't know what happened."

"I think you just had a panic attack." Sam moved to sit beside her.

"I was thinking about the hunters and then..." she shook her head back and forth.

"You freaked out."

"Yeah." she exhaled. Sam quickly stood to his feet, listening intently to something happening outside.

"Gunfire." he murmured. Avery looked up at him with worry.

"Look, everything's going to be alright." he comforted, "I need you to stay here and help me. You're going to be in here safe from all the hunters and I'll be out there taking down Jackson, okay? Isaac and Erica need our help."

"Go." Avery nodded and urged him towards the door, "I can do it."

xxxx

Sam was rushing, he was trying to find Isaac and Erica through the strobe lights and the fog-machine induced haze. It was no easy task, especially when every time he thought he caught the back of their heads they would turn around and he would discover it wasn't them. There were a lot of blonde haired girls out tonight.

As he pushed his way around, he couldn't help but feel guilt sinking in his stomach. He felt bad for leaving Avery back in that room after what had happened. On any other occasion he would have sat with her and probably talked it through with her, but tonight there were other priorities than his sister. He knew that she would remember it though. He didn't think she'd get overly work up about it, she was stronger than that, but she might be a little off put for the next couple of days. The last time she'd had a panic attack was when she was fifteen; five years ago. It seemed that she didn't work well under an abundance of life threatening scenarios, one after the other. He wasn't particularly doing to flash himself, but he would never let it show. He had to stay objective and emotionless. Otherwise this plan tonight and any future plan could be screwed up. He owed it to Derek and the pack to get this right, it was one step on a very long road to getting Derek to trust him again. While it was a childish thought, he wanted his old friend back. Whether that was physically and emotionally possible was another concept all together.

In the midst of all his mind's rambling, his eyes focused in on the right pair. Erica and Isaac had found Jackson and were moving in. Erica stepped forward first, attaching herself to Jackson's collar and beginning to dance up close to him. It was heated and somewhat erotic as Isaac joined in. The three stood twisting between once another, Erica in the middle of the supernatural sandwich. The beat had almost mesmerised Jackson. Isaac began to pull out the syringe and was careful not to arouse suspicion on Jackson's part, but the Kanima was far too agile for that. His nails quickly stuck into the side of Erica and then Isaac, sending them falling back in pain. In the flurry, Isaac dropped the syringe and grabbed his torso. You could see his balance go off and his eyes practically cross like in a slap-stick cartoon. Jackson was on the move again, menacing gaze locked onto the girl behind the DJ booth. By the time Isaac had gained composure again he had lost sight of where the syringe was. It was Sam's time to move in.

He quickly parted himself through the crowd and reached down to pick up the syringe, as Jackson caught sight of him. But it was too late, as Sam swiftly jabbed it into his neck and emptied the bottle. Jackson tried to fight back but there was no strength in him to even attempt a slap. Sam caught him as Isaac came up on his side and they began to drag Jackson's lizard ass outta the joint.

They pulled him into one of the separate rooms on the other side of the complex that was simply made from a shipping container. Talk about low-budget. There was a seat in the corner that they dropped Jackson into as Erica followed, shutting the door behind her.

"You two alright?" Sam turned to them once he made sure that Jackson was completely out. Isaac groaned a little and looked at the claw marks on the side of his shirt. There was no blood, but the shirt was ruined. Sam went to inspect it when the door opened, startling everyone.

"Hey… hey… it's just me." Said an unfamiliar boy, the other two seemed to know who he was.

"Who's this?" Sam pointed threateningly.

"It's Stiles." Erica moved in between the two as the referee, "He's with us, well Scott actually, but he's a good guy."

"Yep, good guy all round." Stiles smiled awkwardly. Stiles must have known that Sam was a Kanima too, because he didn't seem eager to start an argument. Sam nodded him off and slunk into a corner of the room, folding his arms and keeping an eye on Jackson.

"He okay?" Stiles asked openly, also inspecting Jackson.

"Well, let's find out." Isaac stepped forward and let his claws show. He was about to slice at Jackson, when his attack was caught mid-air. Jackson, who mind you was supposed to be unconscious, started to twist Isaac's wrist until there was a sharp cracking sound. Sam jumped forward and ripped Jackson from him as Isaac's face contorted with unspeakable pain. He kind of stood there gaping at his hand, waiting for it to heal and trying not to cry.

"Okay, no one does anything like that again." Stiles said loudly, Erica was nodding in agreement wildly behind him.

"I thought the Ketamine was supposed to put him out." Isaac managed to get out, letting out a heavy sigh as the pain somewhat subsided in his hand.

"Well apparently this is all we're going to get. Just keep a two meter distance from him and we should all be fine." Sam patted Isaac on the shoulder.

"Let's just hope that whoever is controlling him showed up to the party." Stiles said sarcastically.

As if in response, Jackson's eyes opened wide and he stared at them with the intense glare that Scott had described a couple of days ago. He was right, there was no way in hell you could miss the creep factor evident across Jackson's face. That would be something his master might want to nip in the butt if they were trying to remain inconspicuous with the mass murder and all. Just an observation…

"I'm here." Jackson said in awfully demonic voice, "I'm right here with you."

"Jackon is that you?" Stiles moved a bit closer, but not in grabbing distance.

"Us." Jackson stated with the same voice, "We're all here."

"Are you the one killing people?" Stiles glanced back at the other three in confusion.

"We're the ones killing murderers."

"So all the people you killed so far –?"

"Deserved it."

"See we've got a little rule book, that says you only go after murderers." Stiles shrugged casually, trying to look like this Jackson kid's antics were not freaking him out.

"Anything can break if enough pressure is applied." Jackson responded, with an almost gleeful smile.

"Right? So the people you're killing are all murderers, huh?"

"All. Each. Every. One." Jackson said skipping certain words, but his point was very direct.

"Well who did they murder?" Sam moved close behind Stiles.

"Me." Jackson's words hung in the air.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Stiles got to his feet and shook his head.

"They murdered me." His eyes changed from their blue colour to an eerie mix of red and yellow, "They murdered me."

"Okay, more Ketamine. The man needs Ketamine!" Stiles jumped and flailed his arms about.

"I don't have anymore…" Isaac said holding up the empty bottle.

"You used the whole bottle?" Stiles half grimaced and shouted.

"Technically he did." Isaac glanced at Sam. Stiles snatched the bottle from Isaac's hand and went to say something as Erica tapped him on the shoulder. Jackson's face, neck and hands had morphed into the scaly form of the Kanima. This was something new. Sam had known that Jackson's Kanima form was mutated and lizard-like, but he didn't really understand until he watched what was happening right now. Jackson let out a blood-curdling roar that resembled that of a pterodactyl.

"Okay…" Stiles' face went white.

"Everyone get out." Sam pushed at the three, who in turned pushed one another to get out of the room. Sam slammed the door closed after them and sized up his competitor. When he had looked back, Jackson had fully shifted. He was exactly as Derek described. Thick build and scaly, with a long tail and clear claws that were covered in venom. He was a little bit terrifying, but nothing that Sam couldn't handle. His eyes locked onto Jackson's, as Jackson cocked his head. Sam could feel himself changing. He could feel the fur pressing up against his clothes, his own claws coming out to play and his teeth growing long and sharp. When he knew his shifting was finished he mimicked Jackson and roared back, louder and more ferocious. This fight was going to be interesting.

The lizard jumped forward, moving swiftly, trying to get at Sam's neck. It attempted to circle around Sam but he swiped at it. He cut at its face, arm and torso but it only proceeded to heal. Every time it tried to fight back, Sam was one step ahead anticipating. It looked that finally Jackson was about to give up, making a dash to break through the wall, when Sam pulled on its tail. He threw it into the other side of the container which only heightened its rage. It shrieked again and leapt at Sam, this time not bothering with the claws. Its teeth launched straight into his neck threatening to tear it apart. Sam felt like screaming as the tiny but deadly fangs dug in. He dug his claws deep into Jackson's chest and threw him off. He took a moment too long to get to his feet, so Jackson burst through the side of the room like he originally intended. It was pleased to be free until Sam leapt after it again, pinning it to the ground. He could have held him there indefinitely too, he had the strength and was in the perfect position to keep this Kanima down. Isaac, Erica and Stiles were watching on by the door, their faces turning to ones of delight to ones of terror. Sam wasn't sure exactly why. He looked back down at Jackson, who hadn't moved, but it wasn't Jackson they were concerned about. It was _him_.

The spots and the fur were slowly receding. He could feel himself becoming weaker. His claws disappeared and his pinky flesh returned. What was going on? It must have been Avery, what was she doing?

Jackson saw his chance and wrestled at his captor. Sam had nor the strength or the focus to keep him down. Like a drunk riding a mechanic bull, he was thrown about. Sam was just trying to hold on, thinking that maybe it would be enough and it might have been... Until Jackson's arm flung about and cut the back of Sam's neck. He felt the paralysis instantly and tensed. Jackson threw him far away and ran off back into the dance, to his next target.

Sam was pretty much useless.

xxxx

Avery had been seated ever since Sam had left. She was trying her hardest to pay attention to when he needed her. That was her job that she needed to stick to. She didn't have time to mope and worry about the hunters. Sure, it was something that was playing on the back of her mind, but it was certainly not one of her top priorities.

She was trying to ignore the fact that, moments ago, she had had a full-blown panic attack. Her. This wouldn't go down well later on. She could imagine Derek's face if he found out. He wouldn't laugh, he wasn't that cruel, but he would judge her. He would look down on her like she was weak and she wasn't. She wasn't afraid to fight the Argents, she was just afraid of repercussions. She was afraid that if Derek's pack found out, that she somehow wouldn't be fit to teach them how to fight. That she'd be useless.

Panic attacks weren't something new to her. She'd had many as a teenager, all about the same thing. Wolves. She had always remembered the glowing eyes and white fangs that had been responsible for attacking her many years before. No matter how much training she took, no matter how hard her exterior seemed, that afternoon had always reminded her of how fragile she was without a wolfsbane-laced gun. Her panic attacks had practically gone away when Brian had bought Avery her first gun at age fifteen. All but gone away, until tonight, when she had no gun on her. Why she didn't bring a gun was beyond her, Derek had insisted that the gun was pointless against Jackson but she could think of other people she'd like to use it on.

Oddly though, she felt empowered. She felt determined not to let the attack get the better of her. She refused to turn into the broken mess that she had been as an early teenager. She was stronger than that now. Tonight she would be brave.

She knew whenever Sam needed her help, it was like someone had a string attached to her finger and pulled on it every now and again. To shift him back and forth all she had to do was think and then the tugging on her finger would stop.

Avery was concentrating, when she heard footsteps and a dragging sound coming from the outside of the container turned makeshift back room. There were no lights on in here, so she wasn't surprised that someone thought it was empty. She stood up to tell the person the room was taken, as they fumbled with the handle, only to recognise the face. With shock, she jumped into one of the darkened corners of the room. Her hand was covering her mouth, stopping the sound of her breathing escaping. There, done up to the nine, was Victoria Argent dragging an unconscious body behind her. She struggled in, throwing the body onto the industrial bench. Not only did Avery recognise Victoria, but she recognised the body she was carrying. It was Scott!

Victoria pulled from her blazer pocket a cylindrical device and placed it beside Scott's head and then proceeded to search around the room for a light switch. Avery's eyes had already adjusted to the dark so she silently moved around Victoria and did the honors herself. Victoria's beady eyes shot up and meet Avery's figure, who was standing by the switch.

"Looking for this?" Avery asked.

"Well, well, well." Victoria stood tall, "Look who it is. What brings you to Beacon Hills?" she asked, full well knowing the answer.

"I think you know."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with your brother would it?" Victoria cocked her head.

"It might." Avery responded, fighting away the nerves that loomed to destroy her. She would not back down from this. If she couldn't have her laundry interrogation then this would have to do and she was going to make it an encounter to remember.

"I had hoped you would have done the smart thing and planted a bullet between his eyes, your mother always talked you up. I bet my daughter could have done it."

"Who? Allison?" Avery scoffed, "She's couldn't hurt a fly without feeling remorse. How do you think she could murder a family member?"

"It's not murder." Victoria said sternly. Andrea and Victoria had always been so similar, you could have mistaken them for sisters if you didn't know any better, "We have a code—,"

"Don't lecture me on the code. Not when I heard through the grape vine your family's been going around chopping innocent omega's in half."

"Did Scotty here tell you that?" Victoria's brow peaked in interest. Avery shifted her glance down to the waking Scott, hoping she was buying him some time.

"No, no. It wasn't Scott, was it? Oh this is just too good!" she cackled to herself, "It's Derek isn't it. You and Sam are hiding out with Derek. His former best buddy." she reached into her pocket and drew something forth. It was a glass vial filled with a clear liquid.

"You know, it's such a shame to see talent like yours go down the drain." Victoria taunted, leaning forward to place the item in the cylinder. Stroking Scott's hair as she stood straight again.

"Leave him alone." Avery shouted, stepping forward defensively. Victoria, suddenly drew another item that was hidden and threw it towards Avery. It whizzed through the air and barely missed her, hitting the wall behind her. She turned around for a split second to see what it was, when Victoria leapt forward to attack. Lodged in the wall was a dagger. A dagger! Victoria grabbed at Avery's shoulders and threw her back onto the handle of the knife, it hit her shoulder and stung. Like being hit with a tiny bat with a lot of force. It would bruise if she got out of this fight alive. Avery rolled out of Victoria's grasp and when her attacker came near her again she let loose a powerful kick. Only it was caught and her leg twisted, as Victoria threw her to the ground.

"You should know better than to get into a cage with an angry bear." Victoria shouted, jumping on top of Avery and thrashing her head into the ground. Avery managed to work her hands up to grab Victoria's and pulled it forward to bite down. Victoria yelped and let go, allowing Avery to push her off and get back to her feet. Victoria copied her.

"Not bad." Victoria cracked her knuckles, "A little desperate though, I tend to leave the biting to the children."

"Well it worked." Avery stated as her eyes glanced over at the knife stuck in the wall. Victoria noticed this and smiled. Avery would have grabbed it, but a better opportunity presented itself. Scott had coughed, gasping for breath as the machine Victoria had placed a vial in spurted wolfsbane. It made the room smell lovely to the women, but deadly to Scott. Instead of fighting herself a perfectly good knife, Avery ran to the other side of the room and smashed the vial in the vaporiser. When she turned back, Victoria was almost on her.

"You little bitch." Victoria grit her teeth and swiped with the dagger. Avery caught her wrist and tried to pry it away, but it was no use. Victoria had a death grip on it and was turning it back onto Avery. Avery could see Scott coming too, still slightly woozy from the effects of the vaporised wolfsbane.

"Scott! Get out of here!" she shouted, nudging him with her foot. Victoria grimaced as she gained full control of the knife and ripped it from Avery's hands. Avery spun back to face Victoria as she sliced at her arm. She yelped and grabbed onto it as Victoria then brought the dagger down into Avery's upper thigh. This time she let more than a yelp out; it was a full-blown scream. She stumbled back in pain, crashing to the ground as the pain in her leg throbbed. Wounds she could take, she could fight back the pain, but there was something else on that knife. Avery was trying to drag herself away from Victoria, trying not to let the pain show. But this was something she couldn't fight.

"You know, I really love how versatile wolfsbane is. Some forms are even dangerous to humans." she sneered, sitting down on the fold-out chair, next to Scott.

"You're insane." Avery bit on her lip, as her arm began to throb as well.

"Oh don't worry, there wasn't enough on the dagger to kill you. Just put you in hospital for a week or so." Victoria hushed the young hunter, "As much as I disregard the code, we don't kill our own. Unless, of course, they end up like Sam. But you might want to watch the blood loss, that _could_ kill you."

A thick sweat was starting to cover Avery's forehead, her breathing was laboured as her leg and arm began to pain her more. She kept shouting out as the air reached her wound, like the dagger was being pulled in and out a hundred times over. Victoria only rolled her eyes and pulled out another vial from her jacket.

"I always prided myself in having back up plans." she placed it back into the vaporizer, "Never hurts to have spares."

Victoria turned her attention now to Scott who was gasping and coughing, as the wolfsbane filled the room again.

"It's going to look like an accident. Like you had an asthma attack and you couldn't get to your inhaler in time. Your school records show you have a pretty severe case of asthma."

"Stop!" he pleaded, his eyes glowing yellow and his sharp fangs appearing not of his own accord.

"Looks like it's working!" Victoria smiled as Scott's nails scratched back on the bench.

"Turn it off Victoria!" Avery spluttered out, trying to use the wall to stand up. Victoria got to her feet with a huff and pushed Avery back onto the ground. She dug the knife back into Avery's leg, and pulled the girl's face near her own. Avery scream out again and Scott tried to tell Victoria to stop as well, neither of them achieving anything.

"Keep it quiet." Victoria said close to Avery's face, "Don't tempt me to kill you."

Scott groaned and nearly lifted his body up as Victoria turned back and kicked him square in the gut. He went toppling over.

"Alpha, beta, but what are you Scott?" Victoria stood over him, "Omega. Don't you know the lone wolf never survives without a pack? I've heard the cry of an omega it's a miserable sound. The howl of a lone wolf."

"I'm not alone." Scott said in a barely audible strain, pushing up with his hands.

"What?" Victoria asked, not catching what he said, "What is it?"

"I'm not... alone!" he said with more confidence and strength behind his words. Then he let go an ear piercing howl loose as a last act of desperation, falling to the ground afterwards.

xxxx

Outside Stiles came running to meet Derek on the boundaries of the black line. Isaac and Erica were behind him, with a beaten up Sam slumped over their shoulders.

"Urhmm... we kind of lost Jackson inside but—." Stiles stopped upon noticing Isaac, Sam and Erica couldn't cross the Mountain Ash, "Oh my god it's working! Yes!" he exclaimed with pure joy. Derek and the others didn't look as pleased.

"What happened?" Derek commanded.

"I tried to fight him off, but halfway through I just shifted back. He scratched me on the neck and I couldn't fight back." Sam said as Erica gave his full weight to Isaac, "I need to find Avery."

As Sam spoke all of them –bar Stiles – could hear a scream from inside the warehouse. Sam tried to stand up to move back inside, but his knees buckled and he fell onto the railing. Derek's face changed from one of anger to one of concern.

"Break the line." Derek told Stiles.

"Wait, what's going on?" Stiles asked as there was another howl.

"Scott..." Derek muttered, "Stiles break it now! Scott and Avery are dying in there!"

"How do you—?"

"I just do. Stiles, just break it!" Derek screamed and without delay Stiles got to the ground and broke the line. Derek ran straight past him and grabbed Isaac by the collar, dragging him behind.

They ran through the warehouse, past the masses of people. They had to find them. They tore past the crowd, but Isaac got separated from his Alpha as Derek made his way towards the back rooms. He smashed the door open, to the room he heard the cries from, and entered ready to attack. Before he could be of use, he was overtaken by the wolfsbane in the air. Disoriented for a second, it gave the chance for a hiding Victoria Argent to pounce from the shadows. She dug her knife into Derek's shoulder, who roared and ripped her off of him. She fought back until he dug his teeth into her shoulder. She yelped and pushed away from him. Derek was going to fight her again but she disappeared, clutching her shoulder.

Derek shook off where the dagger had gone in as he surveyed the room. In front of him was a dying Scott, still choking on the air. Then holed up in the corner was Avery. She didn't look in good shape at all. Isaac finally made it in and did the same gloss over as Derek.

"Take Scott." he pointed holding his breath, careful not to breathe in too much of the wolfsbane. Isaac nodded and slung Scott's body over his shoulder. Derek moved over to help Avery. He knelt and inspected the huge gash in her leg.

"Derek?" she said, half-conscious. He touched the skin around her leg and she winced, "I never thought I'd be so happy to see your gorgeous face."

"Let's get you out of here." he smiled apologetically as he lifted her, knowing it would hurt. She flinched again as he wrapped her arm around his neck and held her legs in his arms. She held him tightly, shutting her eyes and trying to make the pain go away. She could see the pounding of lights, even with her eyes closed and the sound was louder than ever. Derek was moving quickly and finally she felt herself cleared from the humid rave. The cool night air touched her skin and she couldn't help but feel relieved. She was dropping in and out of consciousness. People were fussing over her. Talking about blood loss. Then she was in the back of a car and then there was black. One thing was for sure; her first encounter with a hunter in this town would certainly be memorable.


	17. Chapter 17

_Author's Note: _

Hey guys, I can hardly believe I'm up to seventeen chapters already. I feel like there's still so much to come with this story and I've barely scratched the surface. I won't be updating now for at least one-two weeks, just so you're aware. I have some exams on that I need to focus on.

Don't forget to review, I haven't a review since chapter 14! Come on guys, tell me your thoughts or if you have any questions/requests make sure to tell me. I'm answering all reviews now :)

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**Chapter Seventeen: Be My Drug**

He still carrying her. She wasn't sure why. Why he wasn't tending to his own wound? Or why he wasn't making sure Scott was okay. Why Sam didn't take her? If Deaton hadn't said his name as he lifted her from his car, leg still bleeding but bound, she wouldn't have believed that _Derek Hale_ was trying to save her.

"Find Scott…" Avery whispered softly, tugging at Derek's collar. She knew that Scott had been worse off. From all the wolfsbane in his lungs he could suffocate in seconds, even away from the vaporizer.

"It's alright. We've got him." Derek hushed her, as the doors to the veterinary opened and she was quickly taken inside.

"What about you? She got you too!"

"I'm fine." Derek assured her before placing her gently down onto one of the metal tables as everyone else filed in. She noticed that Isaac, Erica and Stiles had stayed in the waiting area while Sam helped bring in Boyd and Derek went back for Scott.

"What happened?" Deaton said worryingly as he moved to inspect Avery's leg. She hissed with pain as he removed the makeshift bandage torn from someone's clothes.

"Victoria Argent happened, that's what." Sam said as he raced around the vet's looking for something to help Boyd's bullet wounds. They'd been laced with wolfsbane too, but he was lucky to get away with only a few scrapes and one wound in his shoulder. They'd used a common form of wolfsbane in these bullets, not like the rare one that Derek had been shot with a while back. Once Deaton pointed him to a set of draws with the bottles of herbs in them, Sam had Boyd fixed and healing. It was lucky he was immune to its effects, they needed an extra pair of hands. Now the next problem was the unconscious Scott and the wounded Avery.

"It's already infected." Deaton leant closer to her thigh, "Something like this… I don't know if my medical expertise can fix this. If she could heal then this would be simpler, but she's not looking too good."

"What? No, Deaton we don't give up." Sam shouted, slamming his fist hard into the wall, "As long as she has a breath in her lungs and a beating heart then we can save her."

"This girl needs a hospital!" Deaton asserted back, "She needs professional medical attention to make sure that the infection goes away. I can stitch her up but it's not going to do any good if we can't get whatever's poisoning her out of her system."

"Wolfsbane." Avery groaned, momentarily pushing her thoughts away from the searing pain, "She had a knife that had been coated in wolfsbane."

Derek came in with Scott and laid him down on the floor beside Boyd. Deaton was split moving between the two as he checked Scott's airways.

"Sam I need you to go into the top drawer on the left, over there, " Deaton pointed where he needed Sam to go, "There's a tub of syringes and bottles of antibiotics. Bring it to me."

Derek moved out of the way as Sam rushed to do what he'd been asked. Derek's eyes were stuck glancing between Scott and Avery, wondering if they were going to make it out of things alive. Deaton caught sight of it and smiled warmly.

"If it's any help," he directed at Derek, "Scott's going to live. If you didn't get him out of there when you did there wouldn't be much I could do. With some rest and fresh air, his system will clean itself up."

"And Avery?" Sam asked, handing the items to Deaton as he got to his feet. Dr. Deaton avoided eye contact but moved to Avery's side. He filled the syringe with the antibiotics and flicked it a little.

"There's no known cure for aconite poisoning when it's in large quantities." He said flatly, "In small amounts it can be dealt with but I'm not sure how she's going to cope with fighting off the poison and blood-loss at the same time. If she's had a small enough dose then maybe the antibodies will be able to fight off the infection. But there's no certainty."

"So what you're saying is that she could be dead by the morning if you've guessed wrong?" Sam's aggressive tone began to surface again, "We're leaving her life in your hands and you're '_not entirely sure_'."

"Calm down." Derek eyed Sam off as Deaton administered the injection around her wounds, arm and leg. She was still dropping in and out of consciousness.

"I won't be –,"

"SAM!" Derek shouted, "I know you're worried but you're not helping anyone. You need to cool off some steam, so tell the others to go home. You should go back to the depot with Isaac. I'll call you if anything happens."

"I don't have a phone." Sam said, still riled.

"Then I'll call Isaac, he's got one." Derek placed a hand on is shoulder, "It's not going to make you feel better waiting around in here."

"I need you to promise me something." Sam said quietly, bowing his head almost out of shame.

"Anything." Derek nodded.

"If things take a turn for the worse and you don't think I can get here in time…" he paused and took a deep breath, "I need you to turn her."

Derek was taken aback, but nodded silently again. He couldn't fight Sam on this and it wasn't a terrible idea either. If they knew she was dying, he was the Alpha. She'd begin to heal almost instantly and it wouldn't be too bad having another wolf in his pack. Derek was just worried that it wasn't what she wanted. Either way he would respect Sam's wish, family was precious and he could understand doing anything to protect what he had left. Sam left on those words, Boyd feeling well enough to leave with him. That left Scott recuperating on the ground and Avery's fate up in the air.

"It hurts… so much." Avery said, moaning where she lay. Derek spun around and walked by her side.

"Take my hand," he commanded. She glanced up at him disoriented but took his extended palm. He shut his eyes, as the veins around his hand grew more prominent and blackish in colour. She could feel the pain slip away and let out a happy sigh.

"That's much better." She smiled weakly at him, he let go and slightly smiled back at her, but it was barely noticeable, "Don't let go." She quickly pulled his hand back into place.

"I don't need to hold it anymore. The pain will be gone for a while now." He explained but she wouldn't have a bar of it.

"I know… It just helps with the nerves."

"I'm gonna stitch it up now," Deaton said with the thread and needle in hand. She nodded and looked away.

"You know what Derek?" she patted the top of his hand with her other free one, "You're not too bad. I could be dead in a container and you came in and kicked her ass. Now she's going to be off crying somewhere because your awesomeness is too much to handle."

"You sound drunk." He laughed.

"I'm too poor to buy myself a drink." She grumbled, "Besides who needs to drink when they've got their own human drug."

"Human drug?" he almost frowned.

"Yeah. That's you. With all your magical wolf mojo and healing crap. I like it. It might give me a reason to be nicer to you. I can mellow out every now and again… but can you do that without holding my hand. I don't want people to think we've got a thing going on if I'm clinging on your arm all the time for human drugs."

"I think you need to rest." Derek snickered and pried his hand carefully from her grip. Thanks to him her dropping out of consciousness was now followed with no brain-to-mouth filter. Deaton finished the stitches and started to clean and pack away his instruments.

"Okay…" she slurred, "I'll talk to you in the morning moonbeam." And with that her head dropped and she fell asleep. Deaton smiled at her and then to Derek.

"She's different, isn't she." He said openly.

"A real firecracker." Derek agreed.

"You were lucky to come across those two." Deaton stated, taking off his rubber gloves.

"Don't tell them I said it, but I'm glad I did."

"She should be alright." Deaton nodded, "I can already seeing the inflammation going down. I'm going to head off."

Alan Deaton took off his white coat and hung it up, getting his bag and making his way towards the exit.

"Thank-you." Derek said simply, taking a seat to watch Scott and Avery recover.

"My pleasure." Deaton nodded and left.

xxxx

"Here's fine." Isaac said as Stiles passed a certain section of the forest. Stiles silently pulled over as Sam and Isaac climbed out.

"Thanks." Sam said in a muffled voice, his mind was elsewhere, "Scott's gonna be fine. I'm sure he'll be back to his normal self by Monday."

"Yeah…" Stiles grunted back. Sam shut the door and within seconds Stile's blue jeep was out of sight. Sam and Isaac walked in silence through the forest; a shortcut to the depot and also the best way of avoiding being found.

It would be an understatement to say that Sam was panicked. He had his ears tuned to listen for a ringtone, for that dreaded call that Derek could make. He had to try and think positively but he'd never been an optimist. That seemed to be a trait that both him and his sister shared. They both had very brave fronts, but below the surface terror always lingered. Sam wouldn't over-dramatise things to the same extent that Avery would, but he could certainly get wound up. Like now for instance, his nerves were at their end. The thought that by morning she might be a werewolf with the full moon in a week, with three other uncontrollable wolves in Derek's pack, did not bode well. He finally knew what it felt like to be in Avery's shoes when Sam wanted to end his life when he was first bitten.

Maybe death would have been easier than all this, then the sense of desperation that had taken hold of him since his parents took away the love of his life. Now, thanks to Victoria Argent, it was 100% certain that mummy and daddy dearest would be here for the full moon. Their month had run out and their secret hideout wasn't so secret anymore. He knew this would happen, he knew that Avery was right. A small part of him wished that he had just listened to her and they had moved on, but Beacon Hills was calling him home. Maybe it would be better for everyone if they just left again. There would be fewer hunters in town, maybe less death. Leaving Derek again like this didn't sit well in Sam's gut though. He needed to prove his worth to his ex-best friend. But maybe that wasn't the best plan when survival was involved.

Their mission tonight had failed dramatically. Stiles had a police scanner hidden in his jeep; it had been declared that there was a casualty at the rave. Kara Simmons. They'd failed to protect someone in danger and they'd failed to protect Jackson from his master. Sam couldn't help but feel the most responsible. They were supposed to help Jackson, to be able to come to terms with a memory from his past that caused his mutation, but how could Sam do that when he hadn't even reconciled with _his_ own past? He was a hypocrite, declaring to help someone while he was just as helpless. He knew it, as clear as day, that if he was going to help Jackson in any way that he'd first have to break his own curse. He knew, Avery knew, heck maybe even Derek knew what was holding him back. But he couldn't let it go, he couldn't allow himself to get over what had happened. His past had been full of such senseless evil acts; he'd been responsible for more deaths than you could count on your fingers and toes. It all culminated to one pivotal event; karma finally catching up to him. Ilena's death had to be in the universe's grand design, to punish him for what he had done. This was the one thing that he could not forgive, because he deserved it. He didn't feel sorry for himself, but he was torn up that it had to be someone he held so close.

Now with Avery on the brink of survival it was like fate was mocking him again, trying to take away everything and everyone he held most dear. He'd lost his best friend, the love of his life, and his parent's devotion. All he had left was his sister. If he would be denied even her there was no telling what he would do. He doubted that fate would let him shrivel up in a hole and die too. He could run from his actions but eventually they were going to catch back up with him. The past always had a funny way of doing that.

"Hey… are you alright?" Isaac's voice broke through Sam's swirling thoughts. Sam shrugged and held himself tight as the brisk air around them dropped.

"Just thinking." Sam tried to lay Isaac's mind to worry. Sam quite liked Isaac, that was and understatement. He could see little parts of himself in the kid; charisma, kindness and loyalty. He was unsure if Derek could see it, but he had made a good choice turning this kid. From what he was to what he had become it was undoubtedly a welcomed upgrade. They finally made it to the back entrance of the depot and slipped in un-noticed. Immediately the air heated around them and the musky smell of rusting metal and dust hit him. This was home.

Sam holed himself up in the same abandoned office that Avery had been resting in earlier. He had the contents of his bag sprawled across the floor. His three changes of shirts, another pair of jeans and half-a-dozen pairs of underwear. Asides from the clothes he had a blanket, a compass and shotgun. He had his pocket knife in hand, toying with it, still listening out for Isaac who had fallen asleep inside the old bus.

In some respects this was worse than what had happened with Ilena. At least when she died it was swift and final. There was no prolonged pain and he knew straight away that she was gone. This now was torture. The waiting. The unknown and cloudy future. When he heard Isaac's phone finally start to buzz his heart nearly stopped in its place. He ran, as fast as his legs could carry him. Isaac had only just pressed the call button on his phone before Sam had snatched it away.

"What's happening with her?" he said frantically.

"Take a breath." Derek's voice suggested calmly on the other end of the phone, "She's going to be alright. The antibiotics have worked. She didn't have enough wolfsbane in her system to do fatal damage."

Sam had been able to swallow the fear that had been rising. He put the phone away from his ear and leant against the wall with one hand. He just slumped there, breathing with relief, tears welling in his eyes. But they weren't out of sadness. They were of pure joy. When he heard Derek's voice asking if he was still there, he put the phone back up to his ear.

"Tha-t's. Urm… goo-d." he spluttered out, sniffling and wiping his tears away, "She's gonna be alright."

"Yeah. She's just going to need rest. A lot, which doesn't have me complaining." Derek said lightly. Sam laughed back slightly, before his tone became more somber. He had something important to say.

"I think we need to move on. She's going to take at least a month to get better. Before when she was in good health I would have stayed, because she could protect herself, but now she's too much of a target."

"By that logic, wouldn't it be smarter to hang around?" Derek said coldly, he wasn't impressed, just like Sam had thought.

"I don't know…" Sam said.

"In numbers we're stronger and that doesn't just go for wolves. It goes just the same for humans and you." There was a silence across the phone as Derek must have furrowed his brow, "I need you two here."

His words lingered over the phone lines.

"Kanima or not, you're both welcome."

"Thanks…" was all Sam could say, "I'll come by in the morning."

"Don't worry. I'll drive her back. It's kind of funny to watch her sleep, did you know she talks?"

"I've never heard her." Derek managed to make Sam laugh again.

"She's mumbling something about someone's 'impeccable jawline' right now." Derek stated smugly, he was totally using this as blackmail, "I'm pretty sure it's me."

"Yeah, yeah." Sam scoffed, "… Thanks again Derek." And then Sam hung the phone up. Cliché or not, a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He could breath again. Next thing on his list of things to freak out about: not betting killed by his parents on the full moon.


End file.
